Poetry from Daily Life: Everything I Know About Life I Learned in a Poem

This week’s guest on Poetry from Daily Life is Irene Latham, who lives on a lake in rural Alabama. Irene has loved poetry since childhood when her father introduced her to poems by Shel Silverstein. Family legend claims she's been writing since age four, when she crayoned love poems — for her mother. She's still writing love poems, for all ages, and on all topics. In addition to her many books in print, you can find hundreds of free poems inspired by pieces of art in her weekly ArtSpeak! blog series (since 2015). She's earned multiple degrees, but the one she's most proud of is her Mouster's Degree from the Walt Disney College Program. Her favorite new writing adventure is curating poetry anthologies with her Poetic Forever Friend Charles Waters, including "The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from Twenty Poets" and "If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility." ~ David L. Harrison

If I ever write a memoir, I'd like to title it "Everything I Know About Life I Learned in a Poem." Of course, the marketing team at the publishing house will likely never allow it — I'm told “poem” or “poetry” in a title has the potential to kill sales. Maybe it's true. Perhaps you, too, have noticed this tendency to think of poetry as something to sneak in, like adding shredded zucchini to chocolate cake. Which makes me especially grateful for this straightforward column and its readers. Yes, my memoir may end up with a snazzy, “poem”-free title. But everything inside? Poetry. Because poetry is the playground where I have learned the most important things in my life. Poetry gives me the words for the experiences that matter most to me. Poetry surprises and illuminates, comforts and inspires. Poetry makes me laugh and ponder and gasp and sigh. It teaches me about myself and the world.

Here are some examples of the wisdom I've discovered in poetry:

"You do not have to be good." ("Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver)

“Before you know what kindness really is,

you must lose things.” (“Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye)

"Why not become the one

who lives with a full moon in each eye” (“With That Moon Language” by Hafiz)

"Say 'This is my body, it is no one's but mine.’" (“I Sing the Body Electric, Especially When My Power's Out” by Andrea Gibson)

"Remember you are this universe and this

universe is you. (“Remember” by Joy Harjo)

"Laugh at the night,

at the day, at the moon" (“Laughter” by Pablo Neruda)

“Don't you set down on the steps

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.” (“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes)

"Say surrender. Say alabaster. Switchblade.

Honeysuckle. Goldenrod. Say autumn." (“On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong)

“Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong” (“Sweet Darkness” by David Whyte)

◆◆◆

As we travel through our days and lives, it's easy to lose sight of what's most important. It's easy to forget poetry amid our busy schedules and to-do lists. News and tragedies are always competing for our heart-space. But that's precisely when we need poetry the most. It's like that old Buddhist saying, “You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes a day. Unless you're too busy, then you should sit for an hour.” The same goes for poetry.

When we make poetry part of our daily lives, we realize we are not alone. Some poet out there felt that way, too! Some poet wrote it down.

You, too, can fold your wisdom into a poem. Think about life-changing moments in your life — big and small. Your first car. First kiss. Learning to tie a shoe. Watching a child or grandchild learn to tie a shoe. Who were you before it happened? Who did you become? What did you learn?

I'm still learning every day. Poems are often my teachers. I'll leave you with a couple of wisdom-bits found in my own poems. If I ever get around to that memoir, these themes are likely to rise to the surface.

"So what if you lose your hat?

Let the wind rearrange you." (“Listen to the Windmill” by Irene Latham)

"stash galoshes, forget strife;

let go of pain—step into your life" (“Instructions for a Sun-Washed Sunday (After a Week of Rain)” by Irene Latham)

Irene Latham is a former Alabama Poet of the Year and a recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award. Her books have garnered many accolades, including the Scott O'Dell Award for Outstanding Historical Fiction, a Charlotte Huck Honor Award for Fiction, and a Caldecott Honor Award. Learn more at irenelatham.com.