ummm. a test run.

let's see how this goes

Ok. So I guess this is my decision to post on substack. On Trump-eve of all nights. Did anybody ask for this? No. Do I think it would benefit literally anyone to read this? Um. Probably not. Am I, in light of it all trying to convince myself that my thoughts matter, even if just a scared girl? That’s more like it.

I’ve always struggled with the idea of putting writing out there. Like, I have thoughts for sure, but why should anybody want to read them? And what if I’m bad at writing. AS an English Major, that would be humiliating. Like, why should little old me take up time and space asking anyone to read what I have to say? Well. I guess what I’m realizing is that I don’t need to ask anyone, or necessarily care if anyone reads this. And if anyone thinks it’s bad, don’t read it! So there you go. Plus, I’m not sure how political I would get on here but like, free speech etc etc.

Anyway... I’m not sure what I will use Substack for yet. Maybe talk about books, hopefully share some small joys that have been keeping me going these days, maybe complain, maybe never post again. Who’s to say. Speaking of which, first book recommendation RIGHT NOW! Ross Gay’s Book of Delights. So so so good. Both of them. Reading these books was one of the highlights of my summer, and I would highly recommend to anyone, you know, ~just trying to appreciate the small things~.

So many amazing poets have books of essays that are phenomenal. Ross Gay, Hanif Abdurraqib, Eileen Myles, and Patti Smith are probably my favorite writers at the moment. All poets but I love, maybe prefer, their prose. You can tell just by the prose that they are all poets, which I think is so awesome. I think, and would assume many agree, that poetry sometimes is more so a practice of exploration than it is about form. Maybe this is true all the time. And that’s what your middle school English teacher doesn’t tell you. If only they did.

Exploring language, exploring thinking, exploring the world. All that good stuff is poetry to me. And we’re all capable of exploring and thinking, and that’s what’s beautiful! Wow. I did not expect to go in this direction when I sat down. Maybe I’ll end it here then, with a reminder (to whom, no idea, mostly myself) that in uncertain times to keep thinking and exploring all the time, because we seriously are all poets. If we want to be. Y’know.