The first thing I think of with Sara Teasdale's poetry is their steady beat. You really feel your heart with them.
Some stand out lines of hers:
☆ "My thoughts like steady incense rise;"
☆ "—But oh her hair the sun sifts thro'—"
☆ "And all his words I keep
As rose-leaves hold the dew"
☆ All of her shorter poem 'LESS THAN THE CLOUD TO THE WIND'
☆ All of her shorter poem 'Rain at Night'
☆ 'When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,'
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As for extra ideas!
1. Get an Everyman's Pocket Poetry book. Choose a theme you enjoy, like say rivers! Get that collection, read through it and discover a load of new poems and potentially new favorite poets. Ofc you may know them already, but it fits nicely in a large coat pocket or small purse and is very cute so it's no loss if you've already familiarized yourself with everything they offer.
2. Read translated poetry! ESPECIALLY if it has the original text!! This will be incredibly rewarding: It'll introduce you to imagery that might appear as often in English, it'll open up for you whole new world of poetry AND it might ever make you new/deeper friendships! (It did for me!)
The book 'Chinese Poetic Writing' by François Cheng was one I found and enjoyed a lot! (With original text included! Unfortunately a rarity!)
Jan 27, 2025
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1. accept that you can take whatever you want from a poem - I personally care less about understanding exactly what the poet intended, and focus more on: being reminded of moments/people/thoughts in my life, taking advice, and hearing words and phrases that sound nice together
2. start with easy/lovely/understandable poems! esp contemporary ones. have linked a couple below
3. read analysis/reviews of poems you don't understand!
4. read an entire poetry book! sometimes it's useful to see the poems in the context of each other. this is often how they're meant to be read. also sometimes have a authors note or intro which can help
here are some good ones to start with:
- clam by Mary Oliver (abt nature + withstanding life): https://wordsfortheyear.com/2016/09/06/clam-by-mary-oliver/
- after a greek proverb by A E Stallings https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/55235/after-a-greek-proverb
- what I didn't know before by Ada Limón - https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poems/poem/103-30712_WHAT-I-DIDN-T-KNOW-BEFORE
- Invictus by William Ernest henley (this is an old one but easy to understand) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51642/invictus
Apr 1, 2024
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• Maggie Nelson (Bluets and Something Bright, Then Holes)
• Victoria Chang (Obit)
• Heather Christle (The Crying Book)
• bell hooks
• June Jordan
• Mary Oliver
• e. e. cummings
• Melissa Broder
• Chen Chen
• Mary OliverÂ
• Jacqueline Suskin
• Andrea Gibson
Some of the above poets have twitters/insta you can follow to keep up with their work!
I also suggest following some publishers and presses that publish poetry to hear about new poets and their collections!
I really like:
• Copper Canyon Press
• Graywolf Press
• Coffee House Press
• Wave Books
• Button Poetry
Happy reading, from one poet to another 💗
May 7, 2024
April is apparently National Poetry Month—just in time for me to read more poetry like I’ve been wanting to.
According to Goldsmiths University of London, just reading a poem during a break can enhance free-flowing associative thought. This is the ability to fluidly connect ideas and come up with new ideas.
Distraction is abundant and deep thinking is becoming scarce. Poetry has also been known to help people connect to and appreciate beauty in a more meaningful way. As creative people, I think we could all benefit from reading more poems!
Mar 31, 2025
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Mar 12, 2025
Feb 8, 2025
Lately I've been spending too much time scouring every corner of eBay I can for the cheapest and most delightful soviet era porcelain figurines available
I didn't even realize it until diving head first into this rabbit hole, but I have had soviet era porcelain figurines my whole life (a bunny and a bull for those curious), so I guess I was always destined to develop a fondness for the form, and eventually dig a little deeper into it.
There is something so incredibly charming and also incredibly interesting about these porcelain pieces! These little guys!
There's a lot of history to dig into that I've barely scratched the surface of AT ALL, but I'm fascinated by how porcelain reflected the common sentiments* of the times, the economic conditions, the artistic movements and ideas of the day, and also the ability (or lack thereof) of people to stay in one place and hold onto something so "useless" and easily broken.
I have very, very few things from any of my ancestors. Figurines like these make me think about the way history and art are passed down to us, forgotten, broken, left behind, sold in thrift stores and online, if they survive at all.
Figurine collections are kind of a barometer of safety and stability, or at least how dedicated to the illusion of it you might be.
They also make me think about how useful "useless" things can be. How even art that is purely decorative can be thought-provoking (by for example valorizing "folks"), or just make you happy (via being very cute! Or expert use of color and form!).
Grannies collect this shit for many good reasons and I'm starting to catch on.
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* Notably the $$$ collectors type ones are the ethnographic figurines, something I NEED to read an academic paper about.
Especially, because Ive noticed some of these figurines depicting "ethnic types" are inaccurate copies of earlier prints, which themselves should be placed under immense scrutiny! This is all extra interesting in the context of the porcelain industry transitioning from imperial rule to the soviet era. The ways of talking about ethnicity changed, (in addition obviously to y'know, everything!) but the products produced largely remained the same. Lots to think about!!!
Jan 31, 2025