Every Day Is a Poem Page 2

  Housemates

  Pierre Talón lives

  in the kitchen,

  close to the kettle

  with an invisible web.

  His brothers and sisters

  share the same name.

  Long glass-like legs

  and dark teardrop bodies.

  Penelope is on the front porch,

  blending with the potted plant,

  her green abdomen longer each day,

  her hind legs like mechanical armor.

  Pierre Talón catches the flies

  and Penelope reminds me

  to pause, peering between blossoms.

  The spider never leaves, just changes

  corners and sizes, and dodges the steam

  when I make tea. The grasshopper

  greets me for months, until one day

  she sheds her skin and leaves me

  with a perfect paper version of herself.

  What inspires your sense of awe?

  POETIC MINDSET TIP

  YOUR AWE CAN BE CONNECTIVE

  Try applying a mentality of awe when you’re interacting with someone who lives a life very different from yours. Let your awe be the inspiration for a connection. How did they come to believe something that makes you so uncomfortable? What is the root of their behavior? Maybe this person has a dissimilar political view. Maybe they live in a rural town, and you live in a city. Maybe they grew up practicing a particular religion, and you didn’t. These are the big facts that surround the difference between you, but maybe this contrast can be intriguing instead of off-putting? When I find myself on a disparate page from someone else, I try not to close up. I try to lean in to discovery. It’s frequently these occasions that surprise me the most and give me new insight.

  When I let myself stay curious about another person’s point of view instead of shutting down, I’m challenged to see with a new lens—and that feels creative. What would I have overlooked if I hadn’t led with a sense of reverential respect? For example, through Poem Store, I developed very unlikely friendships that are still a huge part of my life.

  From a familial bond with a timber baron to a deep camaraderie with a wealthy businessman, I found myself open to all kinds of folks I might normally shut out if I weren’t in the mode of poetic openness.

  Poetry helped us bridge the gap and

  see where our contrasting ideas actually

  overlapped in themes of family, love, trust,

  inventiveness, and hope.

  These relationships continue to teach me how to develop compassionate language and an availability for dialogue that focuses on similarities, respect, and humanity, as opposed to difference, disdain, and judgment.

  Letting your interest in a person’s inner world outweigh your differences could have unifying results. Awe is often the key to the similarities we all share. It’s our curiosity that links us, and these connections can cause the largest transformations.

  chapter 2

  MAKE MEANING

  I have always believed, and I still

  believe, that whatever good or

  bad fortune may come our way we

  can always give it meaning and

  transform it into something else.

  —HERMANN HESSE

  One of the most incredible things about being human is the fact that we’re able to appoint our own definitions and explanations for existence. We can base our interpretations on logical science, on dreamy mysticism, or even on gut instinct. Because we’re the ones asking questions and finding answers, we’re the ones who get to determine the meaning that we live by.

  MEANING IS

  A CHOICE.

  It’s a fascinating process because I know that I’m the one who adds significance to what is otherwise meaningless. This is the incredible skill of the human mind. We use our personal sets of data, balanced with our access to information, and nominate what we deem most meaningful. The trick is to fully be aware of your choices. This awareness of preference will enable you to respect the infinite possible designs of meaning that make sense for others. My meaning is wholly unique when held up next to yours, and the potential for my meaning to grow and shift is endless.

  What’s valuable to you isn’t random; it’s

  a crafted lens that you see through, that

  you add to and take away from willingly,

  throughout your lifetime.

  You can delve into the details surrounding you and measure the might of sacredness in each. You can make the street sign sacred if you want to. Anything can be holy. When someone says over and over that they believe the rose quartz signifies unconditional love, it starts to hold this charge and is defined by it. We choose talismans that hold the power of our repetition. This repetition creates significance.

  For me, a pencil is holy. I’ve assigned great meaning to the object, so that whenever I see one on my desk or discarded on the sidewalk, my eyes nearly well up. I find it to be the perfect balance of useful and beautiful, simple and purposeful. I have a pencil tattooed on my forearm. I choose to see it as a sacred object because I’m a writer, because I feel so moved by the creation of something that helps humans put words on a page, because I appreciate sleek, utilitarian design, and because I want to give the pencil consequence instead of just using it as an object that I don’t notice.

  EXERCISE FOR MAKING MEANING

  PICK UP A COMMONPLACE OBJECT AND GIVE IT MEANING

  Go to your kitchen. Pick up a spoon. Hold it in your hand and look at it. What is the first thing that it makes you think of? What is the first word that comes to mind? Does it offer you a memory? Does it connect you to something ancient and human? If you look at it and think, This is just a spoon that I use to eat soup, that’s fine. But I bet you can notice more. Where did this spoon come from? Where did you buy it? Why did you choose it? Do you like eating with it? Is it too small or too big? How long do you think humans have been using spoons? Is a spoon sacred in any other culture? How can a spoon be sacred? Apply this exercise to any object in your home and suddenly you’ll see that everything holds so much meaning. Start writing these personal definitions down and see the value that’s already overflowing in the commonplace. This is the infinite collection of meaning that surrounds you.

  WRITING PRACTICE

  CREATE YOUR PERSONAL MYTHOLOGY

  If we want to saturate our lives with meaning, we can create our very own mythologies to carry with us wherever we go. The way we do this is by assigning importance and definitions to objects and symbols. This is a very old human practice. Think of five things that are undeniably significant to you. Let’s say you choose family, home, love, fun, and health. Now, assign an object or a symbol to represent each of these things. Family can be connected to the black bear because when you’re all together you’re like a family of bears, cozy in their winter den. Home can be connected to the sycamore tree because there is a giant one in the front yard. Love can be symbolized by a red heart. Fun can be the image of a mountain because you love climbing and that’s your place for fun. Finally, health can be symbolized by the sun because when you’re warm and bright, you feel most vital.

  The bear, the sycamore, the red heart, the mountain, and the beaming sun. These are your symbols that you can carry everywhere with you and expand upon in writing. For example, take the black bear. Why do you like it? What meaning comes up when you think about it? Do some research; find out what this animal means in your culture. Pull together the aspects that move you most and write your own definition. What words do you associate with this creature? What does it look like? This will highlight a personal, poetic importance for you, so that every time you see this animal or think of it, an intimate meaning will arise. This same practice works for plants as well.

  No matter where you are, you have access to a mythology that applies to your personal narrative. This gives greater meaning to your reality and can be very helpful in the midst of hardship or uncertainty. These symbols, together or alone, can
remind you that who you are is built on a large foundation of potent meaning.

  There are many animals and plants that help me navigate the world. I’m always alert, noticing which creatures cross my path, which plants are blooming when, so that I can interact with the symbols of my mythology as much as possible. This practice supports my mental health and adds a wealth of importance to my life. When I see a hawk, I’m reminded that I’m at home anywhere. When I’m at the beach and I see a dolphin surface, I’m reminded of my wisdom and freedom. When I see mugwort growing by a stream, I call it my friend and its silver leaves remind me of my dreams. When I see equisetum growing in the forest, I’m reminded how old the earth is, and I settle into a state of deep respect. Strung together, my assortment of consequence is a bountiful book of meaning that I can access whenever I desire a restored sense of connection.

  Everything around you can have a lore attached. You can create a story of what it means to you. This can be applied to anything. To holidays, to cooking, to colors, to doing the laundry. It can hold importance if you say so, if you imagine it, and each aspect of your lifestyle can weave into an intricate mythology of purpose.

  Heart Rock

  On the bank of the Trinity River

  I find a heart shaped rock,

  perfectly smooth

  with a big scar in the center.

  I used to fill my pockets with treasure:

  pebbles, shells, bones and bark.

  Now I just hold each one

  and put it back where

  it came from, a prayer

  to remain in place.

  But this worn stone,

  with its distinct injury slightly

  shining in the sun, comes home

  with me. It sits in the center

  of my altar and I coddle it

  every morning. I cup it gently

  and it exists as a unruined symbol

  of ongoing work, the might

  of mending that is left

  in my hands alone.

  What symbols, creatures, or objects

  hold significance for you?

  POETIC MINDSET TIP

  KEEP YOUR MEANING UP TO DATE

  Meaning helps us pay closer attention and take care of the world around us. Meaning is what makes everything matter. I’m in awe of the new meaning that humans create daily, as well as the ancient meaning that we cannot seem to shake. Meaning is personal, it’s individual, and it becomes collective. It’s our job to refine our own beliefs so that our actions carry the force of all our nuance, the power of our educated preferences, and the tone of our unique perspectives. Through the poetry of making meaning, we’re illuminating personal and shared mythologies that inspire us all to be better humans, showing one another how to benefit from the complexity of consciousness. It’s important that we put in the effort to refresh the things that we deem significant, to update our values as we change and grow, because this is the source of our selfhood and we’re not fixed beings. The more we craft and collect meaning, the more we reshape and rebuild our points of reference, the wider the reach we develop, the more we understand, and with greater understanding comes greater possibility for opportunity, success, togetherness, and resolution.

  chapter 3

  EXPLORE YOUR PURPOSE

  I will serve the earth

  and not pretend my life could be

  better served.

  —WENDELL BERRY

  Many years ago, I was sitting on a rooftop in Oakland at a permaculture meeting. Surrounded by urban gardeners and farmers, the sunset casting a gorgeous pink across the sky, we listened as an elderly man began to discuss the beginning of his journey growing food and planting gardens. The first thing he said was, “You have to ask yourself this very important question: What do I serve?” He went on to say, “Some people serve God, some people serve themselves, some serve their community. It’s okay if you can’t answer this question yet, but I suggest you come back to the question every day until you can.” I looked at him, his long white beard, the clouds like cotton candy swirling behind him, and I knew my answer immediately.

  WHAT DO I SERVE?

  I SERVE THE EARTH.

  Everything I do as a poet, all of the energy I put into helping people through verse, it’s all fueled by my hope to preserve the planet. I figure, if I help people find clarity, if I help them become more aware of beauty, more appreciative of the infinite bounty that surrounds them on a daily basis, then they’ll in turn become better and treat the earth better. I love planet Earth. It’s such a perfect gift, and I aim to do everything in my power to help protect it. This is my purpose.

  It’s okay not to know your purpose. A lot of

  people don’t, although I believe it’s there

  inside waiting to be identified.

  Your purpose can change over the years. Your purpose can look clearly like something, and then you realize there’s a hidden door to another aspect of intention that offers up new motivation. Maybe you have a few different types of motivation that fuel your existence, and all of these reasons for doing what you do can come out in small ways and large ways.

  I’m Here

  The city doesn’t require me

  to have a purpose.

  It says I never need to think about

  what I’m offering the world.

  The essence is money.

  The rest can be a blur

  of hiding from the sun

  in air-conditioned rooms.

  No need for any of it to be holy.

  Throw cups away, ten a day.

  A cool night wind blows my window open.

  I disagree with the mantras of this place.

  I can’t forget that I’m standing

  on a planet that is floating in space.

  I can’t ignore my constant awe

  or the words that arrive

  while I’m sleeping. Each verse

  written in the dark is a reason,

  a reminder that I’m here

  and I know why.

  EXERCISE FOR EXPLORING PURPOSE

  DISCOVER THE PURPOSE OF YOUR FAVORITE WRITERS

  Writers and artists create their work for a reason. Whether it be to simply let all of their emotions out onto the page so they don’t explode, to inspire social change and activism, or to help heal their readers by sharing the guidance and wisdom of their personal story. There are countless reasons to write, and knowing why your favorite writers are or were dedicated to their craft can be helpful as you hone your own purpose.

  For example, I’m so inspired by the way Audre Lorde speaks on behalf of intersectional feminism and civil rights in her poetry. Following her work, I’m able to witness how she chose to process her anger and use it to educate her readers.

  This practice will require some research into the personal lives of the creators you look up to. You could read a memoir or simply delve into their body of work. Make a list of writers you share a common purpose with or a list of writers who you aspire to connect with creatively. We can often discover a writer’s purpose from the arc of their career and focus. How did they begin to write? Who’s their audience? As their career progressed, did they attach themselves to a movement or a goal? Note their struggles, how they wavered or expanded, and think about your path of expression and what you want to do with the power of your words.

  WRITING PRACTICE

  CREATE A POEM OF PURPOSE

  I invite you to find your purpose by writing your thoughts about why you do the work you do, why you practice whatever activities you practice, and why you study whatever you study. This list can start with something very simple, such as you do your work for your family, you practice piano to relieve your mind after a busy day, and you study French because you want to go to Paris next year. But after these simple sentiments come forth, I urge you to look further. Why do you serve your family, why do you seek relief for your mind, and why do you want to travel to France? You may sit down every morning to write in your journa
l in an attempt to find out more about your inner world, but why do you want to know more about your inner world in the first place?

  What are you doing to support something greater than yourself in the universe? Are you creating something to help alleviate suffering? Are you working to figure yourself out so that you can offer a whole version of your spirit to those around you? Are you doing any of this while you write? There are all types of purpose, and each one is crucial for our work as writers, but also for our work as humans in general.

  As you figure out your purpose, you might also ask yourself who you are writing for. When I was in college, a writing professor asked each person in our class to consider: Are you a poet just for yourself? Do you want to show your writing only to your friends? Maybe you wish to write only for a tiny group of readers who like esoteric prose? Or maybe you want to write for everyone and anyone?