Poems That Saved My Life | March 2023 Edition
Feelers, welcome back to another episode of Poems That Saved My Life. The first edition of PTSML never imagined it would become a monthly feature, but crazier things have happened. PTSML is now a monthly feature for a few reasons:
I want to scale back the length of my offerings & diversify the content to make it more accessible & appealing to readers.
I have to be more economic with my time considering my new (and great) job. Writing and publishing every week is a priority for me; building some reliable thematic structure into my posting routine keeps me on track.
I love poems. I love to share the poems I love with the people I love. That’s you.
Poems can and do save lives.
Five seemed like the best number to end on.
So hey— I’m excited to share a little taste of my poetry taste each month.
This month, I come bearing poems from some true poetry titans: Ruth Stone, William Carlos Willians, and Frank O’Hara.
First, the illustrious, the intelligent, the hilarious Ruth Stone. Ruth was born in 1915 and for the most part, people didn’t know about her poems until 1999, which is a damn shame. Many such cases, no? She lived much of her life in a rural Vermont farmhouse and taught at various universities. Upon first read, I thought Ruth was almost certainly a STEM major or minor of some sort. Her poems are infused with amazing references spanning physics, astronomy, biology, and more. She writes with playful precision; humor is plentiful as is deep sorrow. She’s an absolute genius and joy to read and I dogeared (I’m not precious! Remember!) 8 different poems to share from her book Simplicity.
How it Came to Be
by Ruth Stone
Once a bear who couldn't sleep through the winter fished the full moon out of a lake and hung it in her cave. "There," she said "in essence, can there be another like me?" Echo came back, "Incandescence." "That's it, bulb," she cried, "You turn me on!" And she went out and got lit. Edison obtained wind of this and stole the whole thing, and that's why it isn't dark anymore.
William Carlos Williams, ladies and gentlemen—one of my favorites. This particular poem, This Is Just to Say, blew my head off in high school when my beloved English teacher, John Goss, presented it to the class. What do you think it means, he asked us, this short, breathy poem about plums? Sounds like he ate the plums, the class responded. Mr. Goss informed us that the poem potentially refers to WCW’s infidelities—now read it again. What a poem, right? If that’s really the story behind This is Just To Say, my hats off to the dude for putting something so unfortunate and shitty so… beautifully. So succinct!
This Is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold
I only recently discovered Frank O’Hara and I adore him. I saw the title of one of his books, Lunch Poems, and thought, I love that title. I love those words together. Color me charmed when I crack the thing and the lunch poems inside are among the wittiest, sharpest, most exciting poems I’d ever read. Frank O’Hara had that thing. His poems feel so effortless and simple precisely because of his absolute mastery of the craft. They’re elegant and improvisational and incredibly endearing. Frank wrote Lunch Poems in the 60’s and I love to imagine him in Mad Men-esque garb, scribbling away at his drafts. Frank O’Hara’s poems are undeniably fun and I implore you to pick up a copy of Lunch Poems for yourself.
Song
by Frank O’Hara
Is it dirty does it look dirty that's what you think of in the city does it just seem dirty that's what you think of in the city you don't refuse to breathe do you someone comes along with a very bad character he seems attractive. is he really. yes. very he's attractive as his character is bad. is it. yes that's what you think of in the city run your finger along your no-moss mind that's not a thought that's soot and you take a lot of dirt off someone is the character less bad. no. it improves constantly you don't refuse to breathe do you
That will do it for this month’s Poems That Saved My Life. Check out the first edition in the series and look out for the next come April. Tell me, did any of these poems save your life today? Maybe it wasn’t a poem—maybe it was a song? A strong breeze? Let me know…xoxo HW
Help support Feelings, Inc! We love writing things. We love making things! Your support helps us do more of that. We would love to do more of that! Please consider subscribing, buying the first Feelings, Inc publication Tenderness, buying a Tenderness Tee or an It is Beautiful Here print, or sharing a poem or two with someone you love. Or someone you hate, hell—I imagine they need it more!
Feelings, Inc is located wherever you are.
⚔️❤️ Feelings, Inc is a weekly poetry publication for the world-weary ❤️ ⚔️