I want to limit any spoilers and just get straight to the point, because if you are a Ted Lasso fan, you may just be searching for the name of the poem recited during the last moments of the last episode of Season 4 (S04E10) of Apple’s Ted Lasso. You’ve...
Every December I work towards crafting a Christmas poem that pushes against the sanitised ‘Hallmark Christmas’ guff that fills envelopes and cliche’. Every year I return to the fragility and vulnerability of the incarnation and the chaotic commonness...
Well done on completing the assignment. Unfortunately, I see very few hints of humanity in the text. It lacks faults, fluctuations, and unfamiliar phrasing. Put simply, your submission is too flat. Too familiar. Too generated. And not really generative. Not generative...
It was great being with an old friend, Jonathan Puddle to discuss the new book and the practice of Companioning. Find all the audio, video and transcript links here: https://jonathanpuddle.com/puddcast/2025/141-what-happened-to-our-elders-with-david-tensen You can...
You will not perfectly possess God. Not in this life of poorly lit pathways. Besides, what would you do if you captured God? You could not tell the world, that would be prideful. You could not sell God, that would be greedy. You could not keep God, that would be...
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You have more to offer than an un-grieved return to your former, younger life. The world needs wisdom, yours, not winding back. Do not return to the ground laying down for the last time as a stifled soul stuck in an aged body. Endure the dark night. Heed the...
The steadfast and unconditional love of God is more like fluid water, than perhaps hard ice, a rock, an anchor, or some other solid metaphoric substance. Fluid seeps into cracks. It soaks in and finds its way into unseen and unsealed places. It doesn’t rust,...
In September 2024 I was interviewed by some staff at the University of the Sunshine Coast about my poetry and publishing journey. Here is blurb from the podcast: Join us in this heartfelt episode as we welcome poet David Tensen, who shares his trans formative journey...
Of all that can be said of God, to attribute the word ‘controlling’ strikes me as cruel and unusual. I know “God is in control” can serve as a bandage to angst, a platitude to suffering, and cover for disappointment – but it’s...
A poet once proclaimed that the idea of God was too much for the young to grasp, that they were lacking days lived or dreams lost to carry the concept of a divine being, that the immature were more likely to mistake certainty for truth and that truth for a faith that...
Pay close attention to the wisdom of your body in the quiet seasons, in the waiting times, in the desert times. This is where those you had no time for, demand your attention once more. Rumi suggested you invite the unexpected visitors in for tea. Jesus suggested you...
Perhaps humility feels like this: to shut my mouth, quiet my critique, and make space for sappling and seed only time away from tallness. To leave generous gaps in the canopy of wisdom. To recall that I too remain dependent on the elements and shelter of neighbours...
I’m looking for 14 people who want to learn to write and publish poetry to join me in this 5-month immersive writing and publishing adventure. All the details are here: https://poetrychapel.com/poetry-chapel-collective-experience/ Poetry Chapel...
I’m so incredibly proud to announce that the latest Poetry Chapel volume of poetry releases TODAY across the world. 🎉 You can grab your copy via all online retailers and here from me in Australia. For me, the thing that makes this collection so incredibly...
Poetry Chapel Volume 3. An anthology of exquisite poetry by mystical poet Chelan Harkin alongside 12 selected poets from around the world. In Australia? Get it here direct from via link below. Elsewhere? Find it worldwide here Bouquet of Stars- Poetry Chapel Vol. 3...
I appeared on a podcast to talk about my life, faith and poetry. The NINE LIVES podcast centres around the Enneagram. (I identify as leading with the 9.) If you are into podcasts, you might like it, especially the 2nd episode where I share honestly on some tough...
The advanced copy arrived!! I’m really excited to share the first looks at the new poetry anthology! You’re going to love it!! Poems by me and @poetrychapel collective poets. Out mid June.Details for preorder and book launch team on its way soon!ISBN :...
My father cleaned offices weeknights.My mother took the weekend night shifts, as a nurse.My wife is a night owl. My teen kids too.I’m happy to get up when it’s early.I write best when the dawn breaks.That quiet morning fridge hum is the perfect companion...
I don’t recall sharing this perspective on my thoughts around Ephesians 4:9-16 publicly. Partly because, when I developed it in 2017 I was travelling among several church circles which held a more exclusive view of those worthy to be called an apostle, prophet,...
