Every Day Is a Poem by Jacqueline Suskin (manga ereader txt) 📗

modern day. My work fills a place in people’s hearts, where there is a longing to be understood.

No matter where I am, no matter the demographic, no matter what part of the planet, everyone always asks me to write about the same subjects. They’re all grieving over the same types of loss, celebrating the same kinds of pleasure, and longing for the same versions of love, devotion, and direction. My purpose is to decipher their feelings and reinforce their depths with poetry.

But outside of Poem Store, I still keep a dedicated daily writing practice. I continue to fill journals with rambling thoughts. I make myself turn the light on in the middle of the night if I have an idea to scribble down in a bedside notebook. I’m constantly working on a project and have six published books. My poetic mind never stops, and I notice how it bleeds into my nonwriting life as well.

I can walk down the street and appreciate the greatness of the world even if I’ve had a hard and emotional day. When it’s difficult to be alive, I immediately look for the meaning that is intertwined in the hardship, and thus, the problem becomes my teacher. And when I feel an empathetic overload listening to the news on the radio, I find myself looking for the larger picture, the things that help me believe change is possible, that humanity has a chance, that hope is a bright light we all carry, and that I can tend to it with my craft as a poet.

I continuously turn to poetry for help. Mary Oliver’s writing saves me when I feel too far from the forest. Wendell Berry’s work rescues me when I feel disconnected from my intentions as an artist. Poets provide a new set of eyes that bring spark and magic into even the worst tragedy or most sluggish of slumps, marveling at the whole of creation and its wildness. Now more than ever, in a political climate where everyone’s input is crucial, poetry can help us respond and express a call to action in beautiful and potent ways.

The poetic mind is the root of change. We’ll always look to poets for the beginnings of true transformation. Poets are the caretakers of the human condition, the brave ones who speak out to instigate solutions to the larger problems of the heart and intellect. Everyone’s voice matters, and when the society we live in shakes us into fear and heartache, the answer is to tune our collective poetic mind and call forth the newness we need. Poetry is not a dusty book on the shelf or a forgotten pastime of passion long dead. No, it’s alive and well, at the forefront of resistance, and it thrives in the heart of activists everywhere.

You can be a casual poet, jotting down moments of inspiration, putting words to your most tender feelings, using pen and paper as an outlet for your rage, joy, and amusement. You may not realize it, but you’re doing this already. This is the way we communicate now—we text, we comment, all in a condensed language that gets to the point quickly, that synthesizes heavy ideas in an efficient way, giving us quick doses of linguistic lessons that are accessible and easy to digest. Poetry helps us with focus and awareness; it inspires us to see beyond outward appearance, to find truths that are waiting to be revealed.

In this book, I’ll show you some of my favorite aspects of poetry, from writing practices to pathways of expression and inspiration, alongside reminders that we all have the ability to create a mindset that weaves grandeur and import out of an otherwise difficult and often overwhelming existence. I’ll suggest ways to use poetry as a tool for finding clarity and for feeling relief. This work offers up a habit of looking closer. It helps ignite curiosity about the smallest details, and it guides you to make a written document of splendor.

You can begin anywhere by following my directions from start to finish, or by flipping through and trying out some exercises and prompts. Maybe you’ll enjoy the section on mapping your past and mining your memories, or perhaps you’ll prefer to begin by indulging your senses. See how it feels to focus on awe in any moment. From the process of grieving the loss of a loved one, to the healing of a broken heart, poetry is a tool we can use to understand and appreciate all aspects of life.

Wherever this book leads you, its main goal is to settle you into a place of reverence, shifting your perspective so that you can use words to explore the wonder of being alive.

These are very uncertain times. Poetry

won’t cause brutality to vanish. But it might

act as a healing tool, a soothing aid, or a

transformative outlet.

Accept my invitation, and find that you have permission to be a poet in every moment. You have a relevant voice that we all need to hear, and your mentality can rest in a poetic place that will only enrich you, one gorgeous thought at a time.

chapter 1

BE IN AWE OF EVERYTHING

And awe suddenly

passing beyond itself. Becomes

a form of comfort.

—DENISE LEVERTOV

When I zoom out on my life, I’m in awe of everything. It isn’t just the tiny details that wow me; it’s the way that they somehow fit into the giant fold of the universe. This fitting together, this wonder of small and large, this is the heart of poetry, and you can exercise it anywhere, anytime.

I fell in love with the word awe about eight years ago. I’m not sure how it came to me, but suddenly I found myself with three letters strung together that perfectly describe my most familiar state of being.

The common dictionary definition of awe is “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.” It’s that “reverential respect” that I’m so often filled with when