can everyone be a poet?

I like to think so, but I'm curious what you think

light poem. plant poem. look closer poem. see also: a practice in pausing to notice.

a definition

Google’s Oxford Language definition of ‘poet’ reads as follows:

1. a person who writes poems.

   Similar:

   verse writer

   versifier

   verse-maker

   rhymester

   rhymer

   sonneteer

   lyricist

   lyrist

   elegist

   laureate

   bard

   swan

   troubadour

   balladeer

   rhymist

   metricist

   ballad-monger

   idyllist

   Parnassian

   poeticule

   • a person possessing special powers of imagination or expression.

     "he is more poet than academic because of his gift for language"

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“…a person possessing special powers of imagination or expression.” This final point within the Google description of ‘poet’ is a definition that shapes my entire existence.

Can everyone be a poet?

If everyone is a poet, does that cheapen it for others? For those who devoted tens of thousands of dollars or a decade or more to the study of poetry?

I believe not.

Poetry has a colorful spectrum of definitions under the umbrella of the term.

Facts:

Our brains are designed to create,

wired to problem solve- observe the gaps, make ends meet.

We inherently notice, process.

To this end we are inherently makers and artists.

It is one’s birthright to claim these definitions

in whatever terms feel necessary or invigorating.

But one must do so with intention-

it requires mindfulness

a keen awareness of one’s senses.

In this way, being a poet is more about process than the finished poem itself.

If we are artists by nature,

then why not poets by design?

We are each as unique in our creations 

as the odds that it took to get us here.

So even though the internet is saturated with poems

and even though it’s “all been done before”,

no one has YOUR process.

Whether it’s a poem in writing, in photo form, baked into a cake or some other outlet out of the norm-

share it, and you are a poet.

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an offering

I am always up to something, both behind the scenes and out in the world.

Recently, I have been working closely with my dear friend Autumn Fox (the marvelous mind behind the newsletter Tender Mornings). She is a fellow mother, poet and nature worshiper.

Together, we’ve created Flowering Bodies - a space where we carve out time for mothers to gather and invest in nature & poetry. We have an inaugural virtual gathering on March 21st to honor the transitions of spring, with poems and flower lore to get our creative brains a-swirlin. Would you like to join us? This one hour gathering is donation based- we wholeheartedly believe that income should never be a determining factor when seeking community, and we trust that those who can donate will do so. Our own attempt at investing in a matriarchal mindset around money.

The mission of Flowering Bodies:

We believe that mothers flourish when rooted in community, supported in their artistic expression, and in right relationship with nature. Through Flowering Bodies, we forge relationships with humans and nonhumans alike. We engage with beauty as a necessity. We honor where we are. We carve out space to create, uncensored & unjudged. We find ourselves within the poem, the flower, and one another.