Poetry is an art form long used to tell stories and express emotions. But how can we share our beliefs and values through poetry?
Rachel Huckel is a published Christian poet who has shared how she uses poetry to express her religious values.
‘I often struggle to express myself when speaking’, Huckel said. ‘But through poetry I can breathe life to abstract thoughts and feelings’.
Huckel lives in Sydney with her husband and begins each day with three things: writing, walking and coffee. Huckel started writing at sixteen, using poetry to process what she was going through, and she hasn’t stopped since, stating she knew it would be a ‘lifelong passion’.
After filling notebook after notebook, she decided to share her words with the world.
In 2020, Huckel published her first book ‘Fleeting Things’, a collection of poems exploring the trust, love and belonging:
‘i am tired of falling in love with wings.
fragments.
fleeting things’.
The poems compiling her second book, ‘Making Whole’, were published in 2022 and explore her views on who God is behind-the-scenes.
‘a little girl sits at the foot of her Father,
telling Him all that she can’t control –
just a fragment of a broken story
He is busy making whole’.
Her most recent collection, ‘The Garden That You’re Growing’ was published in 2024 and tackles growing up, self-image, friendship and faith through natural imagery and storytelling:
‘and their grass just may be greener
but that is not worth knowing.
for the greenest grass cannot compare
to the garden that you’re growing’.
As Huckel writes on her website, “poetry still has a place in our world.” It is an enduring form of art and expression.
As a student Huckel majored in Global Sustainable Development and is now working as a narrative specialist at an international development charity.
Throughout her studies, she continued to explore her feelings, experiences and values through poetry.
Huckel says to current students: ‘If you’ve never written poetry before and are feeling a little overwhelmed by a blank page, I’d start with one metaphor. Visualise everything you saw today: a dripping tap, a cut down tree, a setting sun, a littered wrapper. Pick one thing that you think resonated with the emotion you’re feeling right now and try to explore that’.
‘Don’t worry about it being “good”,’ she advises. ‘Then as you keep writing, try to remain curious about the feelings you’re jotting down. Keep asking yourself “why?” until you reach the end of that train of thought and get to the root of things’.
She finishes, ‘the root is where your beliefs and values lie’.
‘I adore psalms because they are honest reflections of the writer’s faith journey – including times of adoration and times of struggle,’ Huckel said.
‘When I write, I feel I am doing something similar: bringing my honest feelings before God, even if I am not specifically writing about Him’.
No matter what Faith you belong to, or even if you don’t have a particular religious affiliation, poetry provides the means to express your beliefs and values.
Huckel adds: ‘Every day, your experiences are shaping what you believe to be true and what you think is most important in life.” She explained that because this happens so naturally, it can be difficult to grasp what you have learned and how it has impacted you. “Poetry helps you pinpoint the moments that have made a difference in your journey – and they are often moments that you wouldn’t expect’.
W’SUP News provides free poetry workshops for both well-versed poets and those looking to try something new at Western Sydney University. These workshops are designed to meet you at whatever stage you’re at with your poetic journey.
You can register for the next poetry workshop here.
To see more of Rachel’s work, follow her on Instagram, Goodreads, or visit her website at rachelhuckel.com.
