Posted: Tuesday, March 3, 2015 7:45 am
By Kelly Grant
Photo by Luke Pamer
Alexa Lindseth, 23, is a junior Biblical Literature major who began writing poetry around age nine. She said growing up in a large family made it hard to be heard. Poetry became a way for her to express how she was feeling.
“The beauty of [poetry] is that it is an art form. It’s something that you can be constantly fixing and changing,” Lindseth said.
She said her biggest inspiration comes from emotional experiences. Lindseth doesn’t plan out when she is going to write but instead writes when she needs to vent. She said she likes how poetry has structure but still allows the writer to go outside the rules.
Beyond expressing herself through poetry, Lindseth participates at NU as a member of Track and Field, Choralons and Concert Choir.
The following is a poem by Lindseth titled “The Power of Words.”
The Power of Words
by Alexa Lindseth
Words I didn’t mean, spoken in haste,
Needlessly turn people’s thoughts to waste.
We’ve learned to talk to fill the silence.
We verbalize sarcastic hurtful violence.
Humor is the mask that we all wear,
As we speak things that break, that slowly tear.
To combat the sharp tongues of our age,
We build a protective shield to be sage.
This makes us impossible to verbally damage,
But vulnerability we can no longer manage.
How could one relay the things of their heart?
We all know we’ll just be torn apart.
Though words have the power of life and death,
We flippantly speak them in a single breath.
And who really cares anyway?
People only listen so you’ll hear what they say.
Our culture has made cynicism cool.
If we criticize others, we won’t look like the fool.
We call it the break room because people vent,
We break down our co-workers without relent.
Jaded words laced with negative meaning,
Showing no one that we’re actually careening.
Truth in love is not always said,
Even in the church where these words are read.
Christians want to fit in with the rest,
We say things that pass the popular test.
We preach tolerance like everyone and their friend,
Using our words to make the Bible bend.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,
Edifying conversations each person seeks.
Instead we try to look like we don’t care,
Laughing and mocking the people that dare,
To be genuine.
To be content.
To be passionate.
To be excited.
To be real.
To be Christ like.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29
