For Lent this year, the spiritual discipline I’m taking on is poetry.  Reading one poem a day throughout this holy season and writing a poem or two along the way.  To help me along (and because I’m a big ol’ J on the Meyers-Briggs), I compiled a list to get organized.  In some ways, I’m thinking of these poems as my focus text for that particular day of Lent.

Now, some of these poems are old favorites and some are brand new to me.  Some are explicitly about Lent and Holy Week while others aren’t quite so specific.  There are 47 poems (and 35 poets) represented on this Lenten Poetry list.  Couldn’t help but repeat the likes of Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, and a few other favorites!  Without further ado, here’s the list:

Poems for Lent

Ash Wednesday: “Blessing the Dust” by Jan Richardson
Thursday: Psalm 42
Friday: “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry
Saturday: “Go to the Limits of Your Longing” by Rainer Maria Rilke

First Sunday in Lent: “Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale” by Dan Albergotti
Monday: “A new birth” by Steve Garnass-Holmes
Tuesday: “For Courage” by John O’Donohue
Wednesday: “When Death Comes” by Mary Oliver
Thursday: “God went to beauty school” by Cynthia Rylant
Friday: “Professional Prayer” by David Slater
Saturday: “Thomas Merton’s Prayer” by Thomas Merton

Second Sunday in Lent: “GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD” by Ann Weems
Monday: “The Creation” by James Weldon Johnson
Tuesday: “The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis” by St. Francis of Assisi
Wednesday: “The Third Yes” by Michael Coffey
Thursday: “What if it’s the there and not the here that I long for?” by Tyler Knott Gregson
Friday: “Place of Mind” by Richard Blanco
Saturday: “As Much As You Can” by Constantine P. Cavafy

Third Sunday in Lent: “From a Letter to His Daughter” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Monday: “May today there be peace within” by St. Teresa of Avila
Tuesday: “God went to India” by Cynthia Rylant
Wednesday: “The Journey” by Mary Oliver
Thursday: “E Tenebris” by Oscar Wilde
Friday: “The Ballad of Mary’s Son” by Langston Hughes
Saturday: “Via Negativa” by R. S. Thomas

Fourth Sunday in Lent: “Sabbath Poem V” by Wendell Berry
Monday: “Do you think it possible” by Tyler Knott Gregson
Tuesday: “The Avowal” by Denise Levertov
Wednesday: “Imperatives” by Kathleen Norris
Thursday: “Prayer for Overcoming Indifference” by Chaim Stern, Ed.
Friday: “The Glory” by Madeleine L’Engle
Saturday: “God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Fifth Sunday in Lent: “Lent” by Christina Rossetti
Monday: “Just like Job” by Maya Angelou
Tuesday: “Sympathy for Lazarus” by Michael Coffey
Wednesday: “The Walk” by Ann Weems
Thursday: “the calling of the disciples” by Lucille Clifton
Friday: “The Place Where We Are Right” by Yehuda Amichai
Saturday: “Christ Has No Body” by St. Teresa of Avila

Palm Sunday: “Passiontide” by Michael Coffey
Monday: “When sorrow comes” by A. Powell Davies
Tuesday: “Silent God” by Edwina Gateley
Wednesday: Psalm 22
Maundy Thursday: “Gethsemane” by Mary Oliver
Good Friday: “The Way of Pain” by Wendell Berry
Holy Saturday: “A Better Resurrection” by Christina Rossetti
Easter: “We are baffled” by Walter Brueggemann

Photo by Click and Learn Photography on Unsplash.