Once filled angry debates and apocalyptic readings of current events, a shift in his social media algorithm introduced Tommy Sharpe to three Christian poets offering something different online. Here, he shares their words of faith, speaking powerfully into Britain’s current moment of division and uncertainty
As a young Christian man, my social media feed is a contested space. Some days, I am shown angry men debating the details of Paul’s letters or doctrines of salvation. Others, I am shown deconstructionists curiously questioning the foundational theology of Christianity in late modernity. Others still, I am shown doomsdayers attempting to read an apocalypse from the pages of current events.
Recently, however, a new voice is gently weaving its way through my algorithm and presenting me with something more hopeful – the voice of the Christian poet.
Poetry has long been a powerful tool for communicating deep truths in times of uncertainty and fracturing. Sometimes summarising the story or academically analysing it is no longer sufficient to capture the reality of a moment in history.
We see this in the incredible and harrowing poetry of the civil rights movement and the Harlem Renaissance. We also see this all throughout scripture, most notably in the Psalms where David continuously returns to poetry when other methods won’t suffice. Modern Christian poets are tapping into this legacy and, unsurprisingly, it is cutting through.
Three young male Christian poets often reappear on my social media feed – Sonny Green, Joshua Luke-Smith, and Harry Baker. Despite their distinctive voices, styles, and literary emphasis, these poets give me and many others words to express our current moment of collective and individual unravelling.
1. Sonny Green
Sonny is an Essex-born market trader, actor and poet. I first encountered him after his poem ‘What England means to me’ went viral on social media. The poem speaks powerfully into the growing divisions within our communities. In the poem, Sonny writes about the England he knows:
“It’s English neighbours saying “Happy Eid, mate / And Muslim mums saying “Merry Christmas, love / It’s Diwali lights down the high street / And everyone round the same table sharing food.”
It’s fair to say that ‘What England means to me’ has struck a chord. Sonny recently performed it on the stage of Britain’s Got Talent, the recording of which has 225,000 views at the time of writing.
2. Joshua Luke Smith
Joshua Luke Smith, a former columnist for this magazine, also runs a charity called the Psalmists which “exists to cultivate creative practice in prisons and among those on the margins of society”. A couple of months ago, we had a series of the Psalmist’s poems, written by men in prison, on the walls of my church. It gifted us with a deeply prophetic critique of how we see the other. I recently encountered a striking poem of Joshua’s called ‘Wrestling with reality’.
In it, he says: “Sometimes I know that I’m breaking but I say that I’m strong.” And “Sometimes you have to forsake facades for ancient songs and take off your mask before the days are done.”
I found this poem particularly moving given the furore about the recent Louis Theroux documentary on the manosphere. Rather than using his masculinity to project a facade of strength, ‘Wrestling with reality’ shows a Christlike gentleness and vulnerability – one that is, ultimately, far stronger and more courageous.
3. Harry Baker
A public poet for many years, a number of Harry’s poems have over 2 million views on Instagram. His three most popular poems speak to some of the most raw aspects of our humanity – death, marriage, and trying for a pregnancy.
One poem of Harry’s that I find moving is called ‘A refugee is’. In it, he insists on recognising the inherent dignity in every person and humanising the “other” with short, poetic stories:
“The nine year old insisting we read his favorite stories together / Picked up English so quickly he is his dad’s go-to translator / The 11 year old who has started to learn the violin / He is the strongest child I know and yet, of course, somehow this works.”
A different narrative
In the midst of global and national turbulence, with bubbling questions about what it means to be British, what it means to be a man, and how we are supposed to treat the “other”, it has been a real blessing to encounter the work of Christian poets like Sonny, Joshua, and Harry. Their words are saturated in faith, hope, and love and show us all an alternative way to navigate our current moment in history.
As Sonny says at the end of ‘What England means to me’, “Whether your staple diet is mash potato or rice, It’s always nice to be important / But more important to be nice.”
With simple truths like these, it is really no surprise that Christian poets are weaving their way through my social media algorithm and resonating in the hearts of our nation.
No comments yet