A Thousand Invitations

A brand new poem to help keep the dark at bay

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

How are you doing this weekend, readers? I am still swimming in the deep waters of Big Feelings this week. I find myself toggling back and forth between:

1. Feeling frozen with fear, clinging to the couch.

2. Flowing with feeling, unable to write the words quickly enough on the pages of my journal.

As I often do in the midst of Big Feelings, I find myself gravitating to poetry. Many nights before I turn off the light, I have been enjoying reading a new-to-me collection of Rumi poetry, Gold, translated by Haleh Liza Gafori. It’s luminous. I highly recommend it, particularly if you are needing a bit of light to help keep the dark at a safe distance during these autumn evenings.

I have also found myself scribbling or speaking out loud whatever scraps of poetry caught coming through the wires of my heart these days. Make no mistake: poetry cannot fix pain. Pain will not be banished before we consent to feel it and take good care of it. Yet poetry allows the pain and tenderness I feel to breathe just a little more. Verses expand my mind, making room for whatever is currently coursing through my brain and body. Lending language to the profound emotional sensations in our physical bodies is both powerful and empowering.

In this spirit, I’m steeped in joy to share a brand new, exclusive-to-Substack (untitled) poem with you in the newsletter this week, below. This poem feels even more personal than usual, and while I may feel a vulnerability hangover in the morning, tonite I am relishing the zest that comes with diving headfirst into words that feel like truth.

As always, I’d love to hear if anything feels particularly resonant for you, and please take tender care of your precious self until I visit your inbox next.

As a reminder, I am now accepting poetry commissions! If you are feeling ready to get started co-creating a poem that captures what’s currently on your heart, or you know someone who would love to speak their feelings through a poem, send me a note at theperpetualvisitor at gmail dot com.

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