Latest Poetry Articles

Mar 17

Upcoming poetry events

Check out poetry events happening near you!

With World Poetry Day just around the corner on 21 March, this month’s newsletter is brimming with exciting upcoming poetry events.

Uplift Poetry ∙ 3 LIKES

David Prater

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What a comprehensive roundup of poetry events! Hoping to attend at least one of these readings on my Antipodean travels later his year!

Uplift Poetry

Mar 21

One year of Uplift Poetry

Celebrate World Poetry Day with us!

As we celebrate World Poetry Day today, we’re also excited to commemorate the first anniversary of Uplift Poetry!

Uplift Poetry ∙ 7 LIKES

Plants & Poetry

Mar 12

March 2025: Call for Submissions, Plant of the Month, Community Spotlight

What to expect from this newsletter:

Plants & Poetry House ∙ 22 LIKES

Catherine Winter

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14h

Thank you so much for this! I'll be submitting something as soon as possible.

John Shane

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Mar 12

https://substack.com/profile/279325664-john-shane/note/c-99887951

Poetry Unbound

Mar 2

The stories a poem creates

The poems a story makes

Dear friends,

Pádraig Ó Tuama ∙ 167 LIKES

chris cavanagh

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Mar 2

Fady Joudah’s [...] has worked silently in my mind all week. So many thoughts about the ellipsis, the unsaid, the implied, the silent. The first thing that leapt to my mind (for which i made a note for further research) was how this use of the ellipsis is part of a vocabulary of silence. The term SELAH came to mind which one finds at the end of some Psalms in the Bible. I noticed these as a child but only learned long after that they are not meant to be uttered but are an indication that a pause, a silence, be taken. Which made me think of all the musical commands I learned in my piano lessons - sotto voce, pianissimo, pianoforte - ever silent instructions that govern the quality of sound. But the story that came to mind was of one of my low moments of bad behaviour. It was at a party with fellow university students in the early 80s (i was maybe 19 or 20). Drink in hand, I met a visiting Irish PhD student and, of course, asked her what her PhD was about. She said her dissertation was about the ellipsis which, to my shame, i took as a joke and laughed rather rudely. When she patiently explained that she was serious, I descended into worse behaviour and mocked the idea of a PhD about something so trivial. Wretched behaviour that still burns when remembered. I'd like to say I woke the next day with a revelatory epiphany about the genius of grammar and the profundity to be found in the most modest of symbols. But, no, it was years before I recalled my horrible behaviour and ignorance. Would that I could apologize now. Remembering this story serves to remind me to remember my ignorance, to be more curious than judgmental, to be kind, and to let a poem reveal itself for what it has to teach about, in the case of Fady Joudah's poem, fear and disaster and freedom and the silences that are as much a part of our selves as speech.

Michele

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Mar 2

Admitting that I have been away from the podcast for awhile. Grateful that you pulled me back in. Your books are a lifeline for me in these times.

Here is a found poem/story gifted to me recently at our local therapy swim pool by a lady in her late 80s who happened to be showering next to me.

The story began by her telling me how everything just took more time these days. I responded by something about how good the water felt.

She said …

I used to be a life guard

Started when I was sixteen

My dad said I shouldn’t because adults needed jobs

I took my test in a lake

(I said I did too!)

First job was minding a kiddy pool

One day when I took a dip before pool opened the manager let a man in ahead of time. Man did the most amazing belly flop I’ve ever seen! He stunned himself and needed help. I managed to pull him to the side. He never thanked me

I told the manager that he shouldn’t let people in ahead of time. He said you are fired.

I went home. The mayor lived a block away from me . So I walked down to talk w him.

His pony was giving birth. I had never seen this so I waited and watched the birth.

Afterwords I told the mayor what happened. He said you are not fired.

Next day I went back to work. The manager never talked to me again.

I was paid 75 cents an hour. That was good pay.

I lived in northern Missouri then. It was a nice town.

Yesterday I walked my dog around the block. I try to do that twice a day but some days it hurts too much.

(Water feels good on the body. Movement w/o pain. Especially for those of us that know water)

Yes, yes it does

Poetry Unbound

Mar 9

Questions that arise from a poem

The intelligence of lament

Dear friends,

Pádraig Ó Tuama ∙ 257 LIKES

Patty McGrath

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Mar 9

Dear Padraig, as I sit and read your column, I understand this is a luxury. Perhaps even a guilty luxury. Because at this moment there are over 100 trucks of humanitarian aid being blocked from entering Gaza. What can I do, can poetry do, to open the gates, open eyes to the mistake this is? There are characters with completely selfish “MONEY” strategies dismantling agencies of the US Federal government, of which I am a retired employee. Your choice of this poem is an outright challenge to us living in the land of money. There’s no comfort here for me - only a resolution to make as much ‘Good Trouble’ as I can muster for as long as I live. Thank you for inciting courage in us in your quiet, insistent way.

Nancy Shebeneck

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Mar 9

“we

protested

but not enough, we opposed them but not

enough.”

My questions are,

“What is enough?”

“How do you know what is enough?”

These are not questions for the individual,

but for the community.

In our total preoccupation with individualism,

we have forgotten how to be in

fellowship and solidarity with others.

Lamenting is communal.

It is a guttural expression of grief,

a deep knowing that things are not as they should be.

unusual. poetry

Mar 16

we don't ask happiness, just a little less pain

Visual of the week

Unusual Poetry ∙ 28 LIKES

Poetry Unbound

Feb 16

A "merciless inventory"

Looking back and looking around

Dear friends,

Pádraig Ó Tuama ∙ 389 LIKES

Lyn Taylor Hale

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Feb 16

Ah, Padraigh. Thank you for Eavan's beautiful poem. What a heavy prompt today. It is my vocation to help folks re-member their lives and their pasts. But, what of my own? Immediately, I think of the way that addiction and depression have dismembered my own family. I want to live in a way that re-members mental illness and seeks peace. But, deeper still. I am a product of the American South. Enslavement and murder, past and ongoing. Deep racism that still divides. How "in the world" do I live and re-member in THIS place, this time, where we now live? So, so sadly, I see the culture I live in moving in the opposite direction of my heart, which is another siren call to living loud. I confess I do not have a broad swath answer. But I am looking for daily ways to re-member. To foster community, to be engaged and involved, to seek and enact wisdom and peace. Your question, Padraigh, is the great challenge of our time. May we live accordingly.

Anne Pender

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Feb 16

Beautiful piece, Padraig. For me, the locating of Rowan Gillespie’s sculptures near the IFSC is also a reminder of the often-overlooked importance of humility. This is not about debasing ourselves before others but actually about recognising our intrinsic equality and connection, as you allude to at the end of your post. The Sufi scholar, Jamal Rahman, expresses this wonderfully: “The practice of humility is about dissolving self-centeredness. The person who has traveled beyond self-centeredness realizes he is nothing and yet is not separate from Divinity. One bows lower and lower to the mystery and beauty of this paradox. This bowing brings him or her true dignity…"

Poetry Unbound

Feb 23

What we notice

What have you noticed this week? What has this noticing done in you?

Dear friends,

Pádraig Ó Tuama ∙ 442 LIKES

Ann van Wijgerden

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Feb 23

It was a very odd, totally spontaneous moment of self-nurture that happened to me a few days ago. After a shower, towel drying, leaning down, caught sight of my right leg, I suddenly felt a surge of something I’d never felt before, and said/thought: “Well done, leg! You did a great job today, despite everything. Proud of you!”

For the first time in my life (I’m 64!!) I was contemplating some part of my body with no sense of judgement, no trace of shame, no vanity. Just a: Good job leg!

NB. Left leg equally worthy of praise, needless to say! ;)

Philippa Sibert

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Feb 23

Well the most nurturing thing this week has to be bird song. I am fortunate to have a garden that attracts lots of birds. I made a conscious effort this week to go out and just sit and listen. The back and forth of bird song was so mesmerising. Conversation that I didn’t need to understand and could just listen to. The variety of notes were astonishing. I have carried this experience all week and as I sit looking out this morning from my bed at the howling wind blowing the trees and watching the pouring rain I can still hear the birds.

Poetry Unbound

Mar 16

Patrick

self-consciousness and sainthood

Dear friends,

Pádraig Ó Tuama ∙ 328 LIKES

Anne Pender

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“Many of us who learnt lessons of inadequacy early in life are unprepared to live with potential, constantly undermining ourselves” - it’s heartbreaking to see the damage such lessons can cause. Kindness and compassion for ourselves is a good place to start the repair process, as well as building our belief that we are enough (and more…), despite what the stories in our heads might tell us. And believing that, like all stories, they can be rewritten…

Hillary Coley

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Cleaning, whether dishes or clothes, brings me into the present moment and helps remove the fear and pain caused by a cruel world. Walking outside does as well There is something about moving g the body the quiets the worrying mind.

LeeAnn’s Punctuated Poetry

Mar 16

Poetry Reading

A poem

Today Lisa Jensen and I hosted an open mic for Substack Poets. There were sixteen of us on Zoom, and it was magical. I want to thank everyone who read and came to support poetry, in particular, Margaret Ann Silver, Fotini Masika, E R Skulmoski, and Nelly Bryce

LeeAnn Pickrell ∙ 30 LIKES

The Sea in Me (Síodhna)

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where poems are prayers. @⚡They definitely are. Something sacred and soulful about it all. Loved last night. Felt really special. I am renewed.

Donna J Hilbert

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I love this. Poems are definitely prayers for me.

Poetry Bulletin

Mar 12

Poetry Bulletin: March 2025

Good update on fee support, National Poetry Series, and March deadlines

Hi poets — first, fellow U.S. poets, please join me in reaching out to your Congress people and demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil. If you want a starting point, tools like Five Calls can help… imperfect action, persistent action, refusal-to-go-quietly action, together-action is all we ha…

Emily Stoddard ∙ 26 LIKES

Gabriel Cortez

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Mar 13

Wow thank you for the shoutout!

Poetry Pals

Mar 16

Sharing your 'not quite' poems on the Internet

Poetry (pen) Pals #57

My friends, I am in a bit of a poetry slump.

Nelly Bryce ∙ 43 LIKES

Kristi Joy Rimbach

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Thank you for sharing these. I love reading unedited poetic free writes!

One thing I’ve done with unfinished poems is mine them for haikus. I’ve written five so far from sections of poems that weren’t quite working as a whole but had pieces that I liked.

The Sea in Me (Síodhna)

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'the days spilling out between us. The reading of a piece to the end. The noticing of the end' ⚡

I wear perfume at home and on work zooms too. What's with that?! It's for me, maybe.

I think a lot of my earlier posts on Substack are 'half poems', where I'd write and post within the day, almost. I think I've learned to slow down and come back to them now, chisel away with a fresh energy from a new day.

That said, I find the odd unfinished half thought on my phone notepad, thanks for sharing these pieces, they're lovely flashes and nuggets, that's how it works, isn't it? you've inspired me to look for my half almost poems again.

Plein Air Poetry

Mar 19

10,000 Things

a poem from "Bowlfuls of Blue"

I tried to stay awake for the meteor shower,

Plein Air Poetry, Alexandra McIntosh, and Brad Davis ∙ 42 LIKES

Alex Jenkin

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10000 wonderful years things about this, I’m definitely gonna start saying that to people ❤️

Jennifer Wagner

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Gorgeous 💜

A gentle quill | Poetry

Mar 21

World Poetry Day!

Celebrating World Poetry Day!

Every year on March 21, poets and poetry lovers from around the world will come together and celebrate World Poetry Day. This day is dedicated to celebrating and reflecting on the beauty, power, and impact of poetry. It does not matter what form of poetry you prefer because the art of poetic expression moves all our hearts and souls.

A gentle quill | Poetry ∙ 15 LIKES

Brooklyn's Blooms...

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Happy belated world poetry day! ✨

Jenna Nicole Stevens

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Happy World Poetry Day lovely soul! ✨ Keep sharing your light and beautiful words with the world 🤍

The Pointed Arrow

Mar 17

Poetry

I have been reading poetry every day of Lent.

Bonnie McClure ∙ 10 LIKES

Alan Herrin

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Poetry is a great and awesome way to help calm the storm(s) in our lives and show us many times to SLOW down! take a moment to see, hear, smell, and taste our Father's creation...

Thank You!

Maggie

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Thank you, Bonnie! God always speaks to my heart and soul through your posts❤️

3 Red Cabbage Heads - poetry, knitting, and essays of life

Mar 20

Poetry Wednesday; Poetry Pals week #56 - If God had been kind

Ah, what could have been.

Quick house keeping note - if you are here for say knitting only you can set up what you receive by clicking on the relevant sections only. This post will go into the ‘Poetry’ section. Deselect that section and you won’t get these posts. Visa versa don’t want poetry, deselect that section. This link takes you through the process

9 LIKES

A M

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So... what if we'd been mindless puppets with no free will, whose actions have zero significance or consequences?

Sounds awful.

Little Griefs Poetry

Mar 18

You Lay

You lay Dispossessed Of any cares to come. Fair in your torpid, knowing way. Slim-hipped, Full-lipped, Enriched by the sun. And yet, too long, Shunned to darkness. Unt…

Little Griefs Poetry ∙ 18 LIKES

Treading Water

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Beautiful work

v.vii

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constellations of your skin.. This and so many more wonderful lines, I enjoyed the read :)

Plant Your Poetry

Mar 21

Happy World Poetry Day! (What do you need little flower?)

A gift for free subscribers - grow your writing practice with a supportive community of writers, receive a prompt for every day of April and join our writing session!

DAY 354: BLOOM

Louise Goodfield ∙ 6 LIKES

Plein Air Poetry

Mar 9

Railcars and Cosmic Absurdity

Oakley by the Railroad, Cincinnati, Ohio / February 22, 2025

We stopped at a coffee shop after going to Floor and Decor and ended up parking in a gravel lot by the railroad tracks. We’d planned on getting stuff done on the house we’re renovating today, but the sun is out and there were two trains stopped along the tracks right next to where we’d parked, so we decided it’s a painting day.

Plein Air Poetry and Alexandra McIntosh ∙ 20 LIKES

Cendrine Marrouat - Artist

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The result looks great!

Melanie Cole

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Mar 9

This was a beautiful read. I am with you in the constant search for God, for Him, for something. And for my belief to be exactly right. Then I leave it into the universe’s hands. Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan have taught me a lot. I have resigned myself to the fact that I may never know no matter how much I search.

M.A. Hastings Poetry

Mar 20

The Tiny Woman and This Great War

The Tiny Woman

M.A. Hastings Poetry and Glad Klassen ∙ 5 LIKES

Yamuna Ramachandran

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A tiny woman with a pen – indeed! This is very insightful. Everyone has a gift. The power of the pen is a good one to have.

We writers hear a lot of "Oh, you're sitting at home... writing?" And it's easy to see people out there protesting and wonder if we're doing "enough" by writing, but as long as each of us does something, collectively that's enough. (Maybe the protesters aren't writing!)

Personally, I'm more of a behind-the-scenes type of person. I admire people who put themselves out there physically, but my anxiety would never allow it! We can only do what we are able. If anyone is impacted by my writing, then that's a big win.

How one woman made a difference by writing, herself living in a time of suppression, is good inspiration.

Peggy Williams

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Goodness you make me think! And what can we do to change the world for the better? I was glad to see people protesting the opening of the Tesla dealership here. We definitely have a frightening regime right now.

The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press Newsletter

Mar 9

A Wee Reminder...

Current Submission Opportunities at The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press

Hello! Just a wee reminder that submissions are open until 14th March for our fifth paperback anthology (currently untitled). This publication is edited and curated by Marcelle Newbold and Bronwen Evans. You can find full submission guidelines and the form to submit over at our website

The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press ∙ 12 LIKES

John Shane

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Mar 12

https://substack.com/@johnshane1/note/c-99887951

The Literature Linguist

Mar 19

The Search for Solace in"I am" By John Clare

I Am by John Clare is easily one of the most poignant poems in English literature, as it explores themes of isolation, identity, and the nature of existence. Clare masterfully paints a profoundly moving portrait of loneliness and longing. Viewing this poem through a modern lens compels us to think about the fragile nature of the human mind and the searc…

Poetry Dude ∙ 13 LIKES

Claire Cayson

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Thank you for poem in the shoes of depression one clings to what is left a tangible abstraction weak reedy and naturally tangible

Carlos Iglesias

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Good job analyzing and throwing in his life to accompany your process. Toiling within the mind is a dangerous activity, and loved the poem itself. I think you got the essence of Clare. I too love poetry and learned in school about the Lens Theory, and love seeing it implemented here. Can't wait to explore other articles by you, and all in five minutes, not bad.

unusual. poetry

Mar 7

everybody's gotta learn sometime

Visual of the week

Unusual Poetry ∙ 27 LIKES

Craig Thomas Marks

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Mar 7

Fantastic composition.

John Shane

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Mar 12

https://substack.com/profile/279325664-john-shane/note/c-99887951

Earth and Verse

Mar 8

Seeds of Poetry

An 8-week spring writing circle

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”

Alix Klingenberg ∙ 47 LIKES

Julie Allyn Johnson

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15h

Looking forward to this as it's been a long winter and I'm oh, so ready for spring!

Bree Smith

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Mar 11

I can't wait for this! <3

Of Trees & Poetry

Mar 21

Craft & Play Vol. 28

a prompt for a lazy day

I was slightly jealous when Julia told me about the snowstorms in Nebraska. Spring is here in British Columbia, but it doesn’t feel earned. Snow was prayed for daily, and every drop of white flakes was considered a miracle. But maybe God is asking us not to worry so much about what is in front of us, but to enjoy whatever he gives daily. Although everyt…

E R Skulmoski, Julia McMullen, and Of Trees & Poetry ∙ 8 LIKES