Jamie Waterman

Expect to be influenced.
There's a balance I pursue within every poem I write, a balance between expression and perfection. That my expression (what I have to say) would be written perfectly (word play, rhyme scheme, and cadence) and used to impact and touch everyone who listens. Every piece I write is combed through over and over again, down the last word and syllable.

I believe in quality over quantity when I perform.
I'm not going to rifle through a multitude of brief poems. I will a setlist prepared for the exact timing allotted of poems I've been rehearsing and honing for each audience. Every piece is a genuine expression of myself readied to be delivered to touch and impact people.

A huge portion of the bible is ancient poetry. Poetry isn't simply meant to make you think but to make feel and relate to a subject in a different light. The bible isn't a simple text book to relay facts and information, it's so much more than that. The bible is an incredible work of art to give an idea of God's relationship with mankind. Manuscripts written over thousands of years ago, and in several different languages, sixty six books, prophecies, and representations of many different cultures..... The bible is complicated. But the artistry of it gives us a path to journey on.

Donald James Waterman IV began His relationship with Christ when he was around nine years old. He was in a worship service at his church and really began to wonder what all the adults were doing. He raised his hands, closed his eyes and began to sing the song. He imagined everything he was singing and believed every word of it. That moment was a moment that marked him. In his own words,

"It was like I always believed in God but never realized how real He actually was. It impacted me so deeply to be overwhelmed with His presence like that. I can't remember the date or time or anything specific actually. The only thing I remember is this image in my mind of me bowing down at God's feet."

He fell in love with writing just a few years later. In middle school he started to write on his own and devoted himself to it. He would routinely write two hours every night. Filling up entire notebooks, utilizing practice journals, ignoring teachers in class to continue writing. At an open mic night in college he performed a piece called 'Scandals' that made him realize that this was what he wanted to do with his life. People he hadn't seen in years messaging him to tell him how it had impacted them, distant relatives telling him how it convicted them, and even several years after the performance people coming up to him telling him how great they thought it was. He believes poetry was the calling God has on his life, and it will be his pursuit.