You, me, and Wallace Stevens

This week before Christmas, I received a surprise gift from poet-peer Glynn Young, author of the book Poetry at Work, which we've previously discussed and which I wish I’d remembered sooner to suggest as a great Christmas gift for everyone in the office.

In my Christian Poets & Writers group on Facebook, Glynn had posted a hotlink to his blog post on Wallace Stevens, another poet whose work I admire. Naturally, I clicked the link and surprise! It took me a moment to realize that the article begins with my poem, “Landscape Loved by Wallace Stevens.”

Glynn acknowledged me as author, of course, and also my poetry book, Living in the Nature Poem, which includes that poem, but then he went beyond that. He provided a hotlink to the book on Amazon and another to my website. Nice!

Oh, if we would all be so nice to one another, think of the interest we might generate in poetry!

Think of the poets we would encourage.

Think of the poetry network we could build with poems we like and poetry books we recommend if we simply let others know we recommend them.

Think of the publishers who might retweet our tweets about our poetry book reviews.

Think of the way poetry can counteract the terrorism of hurtful words.

Think of the joy we can bring to one another as Glynn did me.

May your Christmas be blessed and your New Year a blessing to your readers, poetry editors, and other poets too.


© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler has placed hundreds of poems and many traditionally published books in all genres. Her e-book, the Christian Poet’s Guide to Writing Poetry, is a revision of the poetry home study course she wrote and used for years with other poets and poetry students.

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Poetry At Work

When I first saw an announcement of the book Poetry At Work from T.S. Poetry Press, I didn’t know if it would be about the desperate need for poetry at work in the world or about poetry that can be found on the job and other places not typically known for their poetic environments – to which, I say, yes, and more!

In a slender volume filled with interesting observations and insights into the rhythms and routines of everyday life, poet-writer-editor-executive Glynn Young attunes our ears to hear poetic rhythms and accustoms our eyes to see fresh subjects abounding in the corporate world – even in such unlikely places as a boardroom.

During a mundane, mandatory weekly meeting, for instance, Glynn begins to “hear a submerged conversation. The same ideas, statement, voices and goals are converging to form an almost musical repetition,” and he realizes, “It’s poetry” – poetry “so embedded in the presentations we make, the spaces in which we work, and the successes and failures and challenges of work, it can’t be separated from them. When we work, we express and create poetry.”

Although poetry exists almost everywhere, everyone doesn’t necessarily see or hear such potential. As a corporate executive, however, Glynn looked for interview candidates with poetic tendencies – people who “make the uncomfortable observations, point out the embarrassingly obvious, cut through the thicket of workplace jargon to get straight to the point, and ask “why” about the ridiculous aspects of the organizational culture. They may never write or read a line of poetry, but they behave just like the people who do.” Or, as he goes on to say elsewhere, “Poets in business hear things others can miss.”

Being honest, thinking outside the writer’s block, looking for creative solutions in handling crises, and “analyzing and studying to reap every possible benefit and insight – that’s what poets do with every aspect of life.”

Whether dealing with humdrum routines or fear of the unknown, threats of layoff or career changes, work overload or job stress, Poetry At Work helps poets - and everyone else - to see the value of poetry at work and at play almost everywhere.

©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler


Poetry At Work, paperback



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