Emily Brooks

Last semester, I wrote a multi-genre project about typologies and discovering that I am a type 6 on the Enneagram. I was extremely discouraged at first, and this project was partly my attempt at coming to terms with who I am.

Not all of the piece is relevant here, but I thought it would be fun to share two poems that developed from the project that reflect how no one is meant to be stagnant personality types: we learn and grow and change. When it comes to craft, I can’t say that I am especially proud of either of these. But they came from a place of desiring truth, and that’s why I’m sharing them.

The first is a reverse poem, meaning you can read it up or down. Every Enneagram has a vice and a virtue that counteract each other. For the 6, these are fear and courage. It is by God’s continual creating of me that I move closer to the courageous person I am meant to be.

This second poem is meant to be read like a children’s book. While I was interning at a publishing company over the summer, I developed a growing irritation towards the false idea that all children’s stories have to rhyme–nevertheless, I used rhyme to emphasize the simplicity of my message.

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