The Job of the Poet

Text: Solveig Hansen

His life was brief, but what a legacy he left behind! Peace activist and poet extraordinaire Mattie J.T. Stepanek (1990-2004) wrote his first poems, his heartsongs, at the age of three. He explained that heartsongs are gifts that reflect each person’s unique reason for being. Poets have specific duties, as described in his Duties as Designed below.

Among his works are six collections of his Heartsongs poetry, all New York Times Bestsellers.

This is how Mattie wanted to be remembered: When people hear my name after I am gone, I hope they smile and say, “oh yes, Mattie – he was a poet, a peacemaker, and a philosopher who played.”

 
DUTIES AS DESIGNED

By Mattie J.T. Stepanek

The job of the poet
Is to give birth to the words
That give breath to expressions
Of the essence of life.

The job of the poet
Is to leave stains of the storms
Yet echo laughter of the light
That is seen from the soul.

The job of the poet
Is to weave ashes of yesterthoughts
Into silhouettes that rise gently
On the horizon of dawning hope.

The job of the poet
Is to create and to capture
And to spirit and to script
The pulse of life.

 
Duties as Designed by Mattie J.T. Stepanek, in Reflections of a Peacemaker (AMP, 2005). Used with permission. For more information, please visit MattieOnline.com.
 

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