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YAY. A few years ago, I started copying poems out longhand and mailing them to friends and loved ones. It's become a kind of spiritual practice for me, and I'm always on the lookout for new poems to share - I am familiar with many on this list, but not all. Thank you!

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Mar 13, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

“Gate A-4” by Naomi Shihab Nye

https://poets.org/poem/gate-4

“Instructions on Not Giving Up” by Ada Limon

https://poets.org/poem/instructions-not-giving

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Thank you for this! Love this list, espeically Ross Gay.

Here are mine:

"We Real Cool," Gwendolyn Brooks https://poets.org/poem/we-real-cool

"Coal" Audre Lorde https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42577/coal

Maybe the following are cheating, but I consider them poems!

"Things have changed," Bob Dylan https://genius.com/Bob-dylan-things-have-changed-lyrics

"Keep ya head up," Tupac Shakur https://genius.com/2pac-keep-ya-head-up-lyrics

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Mar 13, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

"Will You?" Carrie Fountain https://poets.org/poem/will-you

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What a list! Thank you.

A couple more, off the top of my head:

Ellen Bass's "Gate C22" <https://poets.org/poem/gate-c22>

Richard Wilbur's "Praise in Summer"

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Poetry is my bible! Thank you for this huge list, I will copy it and print it right this second ✨

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Mary Oliver’s “At the River Clarion” is my favorite of all time 🙂

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Well, this life affirming list could not have arrived at a better time. What a gift this has been today. Thank you, Maggie.

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Mar 19, 2023·edited Mar 19, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

Grateful to have found this today.

Amazing how during times of stagnation, frustration and mornings that begin under the weight of grief, a simple poem can pick your head up and reposition perspective toward the light, even if it is briefly. Bonus for when it sparks a desire to share the lines that move you with someone else and relay the love forward. Thank you for this. Keep Moving.

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Thomas Lux, "Poem in Thanks," which if I read it before 7 a.m. after two cups of coffee, makes me want to run through a goddamn wall and swim in a cold lake.

http://inwardboundpoetry.blogspot.com/2006/03/70-poem-in-thanks-thomas-lux.html

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founding
Mar 13, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

Wow! Wonderful list. Thank you so much.

Yes, “Joy is not made to be a crumb.”

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Mar 13, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

Two that spring to mind immediately for me...

'Fucking in Cornwall', Ella Frears. https://poems.poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/fucking-in-cornwall/

'Coconut', Paul Hostovsky https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=988

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Mar 13, 2023·edited Mar 13, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

So good to see Alison Luterman's name on this list! I think joy frequently figures in her work, but my favorite of hers is "Some Girls" for exactly this reason. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/magazine/poem-some-girls.html

*Thank you so much for this glory of poetry riches! <3

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Mar 14, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

Thank you, Maggie Smith, for this. Old favorites I’d forgotten about -new favorites to be discovered -and SO many of this community sharing their joy.

What a living, breathing gift. 💕 THANK YOU ALL!

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Mar 14, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

things shouldn't be so hard by kay ryan https://wordsfortheyear.com/2020/06/12/things-shouldnt-be-so-hard-by-kay-ryan/

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Amazing resource! Thanks!

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