“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.”

Hafiz

How do you begin to write a poem?

There is no single answer to this question, so all I can do is write about how it happens for me. Usually, a line or a phrase, or an image will come up for me. This happens almost “out of the blue” (a very poetic expression!), as long as I allow myself time to just be, every now and then. I once wrote a poem in Portuguese, which, loosely translated, goes something like this:

It’s in the intervals when

I’m pretty useless

That I become something of a poet

Anyone who has made fire before

Knows that wood requires

a i r

and space

to burn

For me, poetry can be a powerful tool of self-knowledge and self-expression. It helps me encapsulate feelings and sensations that, until put into words, give me a sense of discomfort, like a rock in my shoe. But reading poetry can be even more impactful. The right words at the right time can heal things I didn’t even know I was experiencing. But this TED Talk explains this much better than me:

https://www.ted.com/talks/william_sieghart_the_connective_potential_of_poetry

So I’ll leave an invitation here today: can you take 5 minutes to do nothing and see what words come up for you? Leave them in the comments if you feel comfortable!

Here is what came up for me this week:

Sometimes I don’t recognize

the landscape of my now

An immigrant in the lands

of my own existence