Sharing Water By the River

Sharing Water by the River is a new series of poems by Uniting Church minister Denham Grierson who knows from his pastoral and teaching ministry the significance of metaphor, ambiguity and mystery.

In the spirit of a seeker of wisdom and with an enthusiasm for his experience of discovering meaning, purpose and revelation in the everyday, he offers his poems, inviting us to share the hidden depths of what makes us human; and alive to God.

The author gladly acknowledges that poets do not write poetry. They write poetry down.

Some poems (he writes) come fully formed, needing only some superficial amendment. And when a poem comes to rest, it breaks open new understandings if we choose to participate in its offering. It brings a gift. Much like welcoming a stranger in who speaks a new language that unlocks the mystery of your own deepest convictions.

In the process, what is revealed is the symbiotic relationship between the old and the new, freeing us from that powerless state where we know more than we can tell, for we do not have the words. Here is the gift of poetry, the transmission of existence clarification.