Poetry Friday: Practices

Practices

• Daily poetry reading—I read a minimum of three poems a day. I take notes on things that astonish me. Right now the Nevermores are reading Water, Water by Billy Collins. We’ll talk about it at our next Zoom meeting in February.
• Daily Haiku—I take pictures with my phone and with my camera with a macro lens. I print them out on 2×3 sticker paper. Each day I choose a photo, stick it in my notebook, and write a haiku in response. I’ve been doing this daily for several years and it’s a huge part of my daily practice.
• Craft book—I always have a craft book going. Sometimes, I read a chapter a day. Sometimes I read part of a chapter a day. I’m almost finished with Oliver Burkeman’s new book Meditations for Mortals. The chapters are super short and are perfect for reading one a day (which he recommends).
• Reading—I read daily. Some busy days it might just be the aforementioned daily poetry and craft book. But often, I read in the evenings as well. I sometimes listen to an audiobook while making dinner or driving. I’m trying to be better about the practice of picking up a book instead of my phone. I’m good about this when I’m waiting for something (like at a doctor’s office). But I’m worse about it at the end of a long day. I’ve read a LOT over the break, so I hope to continue that once school kicks into high gear.
• Sit Spot—For a long time, I did a daily sit spot practice. I had a little spot in the woods where I would sit after school. I listened to the sounds and did a page of nature journaling (mostly writing). I wanted to switch up my space and a few months went by and I didn’t do it. I got out the habit of my sit spot in the past few months. Last summer I put in a moon garden, and I’ve been thinking that I want to spend more time out there in all seasons. I’d love for this to be a practice that I return to again and again. My roadblock for this is always weather-related. I really don’t love the cold. But I have a warm coat and hat and gloves. I just need to do it. It’s much like going to the gym—the hardest part is getting there. Once I’m there, I love it.
• Writing Daily—While this seems goal-related, it is and it isn’t. I always have goals around writing projects. But writing for me is such a habit that it’s part of my daily practice. I know that some of my writing time this season is going to be taken up by marketing. It’s a thrilling thing to have a new book out in the world. There is only so much time in the day, so I know that some of my marketing efforts will have to be done during my morning writing time. But I like for my time each day to include at least writing on a project or revising a project.
• Poetry Weekly—I write at least one new poem per week. The Nevermores group is great for accountability for this. We have a prompt a week and we write to that prompt and share it.
• Poetry Friday—This is also a practice of mine—to write a post per week (most weeks) and share it. Then I try to read as many posts as I can each week. I’ve learned so much from this poetry community. 

Haiku of the Week

25 New-to-Me Poets in 2025

Francis Ponge

• “Crate”
• “Snails”—my favorite poem that I read
• “The Trees Delete Themselves Inside a Fog-Sphere”—favorite title
• “Rain”
• “Soap”

RECREATE

• 2 museums (I’ll report on these at the end of the month)
• Lots of reading (due to snow)
• Recreating a chapter book project—I’m just at the beginning of brainstorming.
• A snow walk

• Started printing vegetables on fabric inspired by Margarts (you really should follow her on Instagram). I printed celery and artichokes. Artichokes are my favorite thing that Margaret prints, but mine didn’t turn out as well as hers. I need more practice!