Daily Nourishment for October 3, 2024: Be Sure to Read Poetry with Guidance from Lydia Davis on National Poetry Day
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 50 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes
“If you’re afraid of poetry, or think you dislike it, as a friend of mine dislikes water, then find a way to begin reading it, maybe by starting with the most prosy poems.”- Lydia Davis, “Thirty Recommendations for Good Writing Habits” from Essays One
Pause.
Take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale.
Then read a favorite poem (or any poem you can find without too much trouble) and do a breath prayer/meditation using single words or phrases from the poem.
Inhale a word or phrase and exhale a word or phrase. Repeat the breath prayer five or so times.
If you need some poems to choose from, here are a few I love:
Hymn of Our Jesus & the Holy Tow Truck by Ashley M. Jones
Despite My Efforts Even My Prayers Have Turned into Threats by Kaveh Akbar
Transformation by Adam Zajewski
Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo
How to Triumph Like a Girl by Ada Limon
Untitled by James Baldwin
When I do breath prayers, I usually inhale a word or phrase that corresponds to or names something I want to receive and exhale a word or phrase that corresponds to or names something I want to let go of. If this particular breathing practice doesn’t work well for your poem, or if it feels awkward, skip it.
Prompt.
Here’s more from Lydia Davis: “Be sure to read poetry, regularly, whether you are a poet or a writer of prose. I hope, of course, that if you’re a poet, you are already reading a lot of poetry. You will not develop, as a writer, if you don’t read. You won’t write as well, if you’re a prose writer, if you don’t read poetry.”
Practice.
Set an eight-minute timer and read some poems. Use a website like poetryfoundation.org or a book of poetry.
Make Lydia Davis (and me!) proud by taking notes while reading the poems.
Begin keeping a list of favorite poems that you can add to and return to often. (I use a google doc for this because when in doubt create a new google doc.)
If you don’t own any books of poetry, consider buying one, two, or three!
If you aren’t sure which poets you like, read Poetry Unbound book and listen to the Poetry Unbound podcast.
I also love the Slowdown podcast. So so good.
AND. There’s a new podcast from Susan Cunningham called Living Poetry which is just wonderful. (I was invited to be a guest on this podcast, so be on the lookout for my episode soon!)
Many different poems are shared and explored in this book and these podcasts, so they are great ways to discover new-to-you poets and poems.
Want More?
Read How to Read a Poem by Tania Runyan or How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch.
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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
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