Poetry Pharmacy, redux
with Kimberly Phinney
Hello, Poetry Friend
Kimberly Phinney, at My Way Back, here on Substack, recently wrote a list of poetry prescriptions — poems for what ails ya. She included several from her new collection, Exalted Ground.
If I were to make my own poetry prescription list, at the top would be the poems I’ve learned by heart, many of which came into my life for very pedestrian reasons but ended up as gifts to my soul that just keep on giving. But I’m especially intrigued with Kimberly’s examination of the healing value of her own poems. (Check it out!)
So I decided to make my own poetically prescriptive list, using all forty-eight poems from my collection Love & other Mysteries.
All, Psalm 145: For when you want to give thanks for the little things
Duet, Songs 1: For when Jesus doesn’t make a whole lot of sense
Marienkirche: For when you feel like you’ll never get better
Winterpast, Songs 2: For the irresistable pull of a good pair of boots
Magnificat: For the sometimes too-muchness of family life
Katy, Bar the Door, Job 38:8-10: For that longed-for minute alone with your spouse
Lost Prayers: For all the cussing prayers
The Pleiades and Orion: For when you know that the dog can see the cords that bind you and you wonder if everyone else can see them too
Top of the Rock: For the lost ones
Snow White: For when you feel defeated
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area: For the legends you cling to
Mountain House: In lament for the song once sung
Buena Vista / Bible Point: For when you are haunted by beautiful, painful memories
Texas Squall: For when you need a good weather metaphor
The Window: For when you waver between despair and getting up
Whatever, Songs 3: For the moment you knew you were forgiven
Git ‘Er Done: For that bath bomb from that store in Utah that has stuck with you
Lost Maples State Natural Area: For all the hikes and what they meant
Psalm 123: For the unsayable: a sonnet
Fool’s Gold: For when you want to communicate the indescribable sweetness of Christ’s real presence
Three Kisses at Pentecost, Songs 4: When you don’t know what to do with this crazy-wild Holy Spirit and all those flowers
Mrs. Blevins Prays as John Grady Cole Rides Away: For when you can’t ask the author if your interpretation of the book is right, so you write your own
Psalm of the Mother in the Fiery Furnace, Daniel 3:52-90: For when you want to give thanks for being broken open
Not Mills Lake: For what you wish you had known
Cibolo Creek: For that moment that haunts you, and how you want to haunt it right back
Solstice, Songs 5: For all the dreams
Writer’s Block in the Key of G Minor: When you feel limited
Speechless, Isaiah 35:1-10: For how you would tell the past-story now
Boo: For when God works in the dark
Devil’s Backbone: For the drive you never want to forget
After a Death, Cleaning the Bathroom: For the moment you wish you could forget
Mesquite: When you want to tell the trees what they mean to you
Crow Villanelle: When you’ve really done that symbol to death in your poetry, but then, after a poetic dinner with a friend, you can’t resist just one more go-round
Psalm 89, Christmas Even Vigil Mass: When you realize Sylvia Plath said the thing you’ve been trying to say for pages and pages and pages in a single brilliant poem
“Mary Walked Through a Wood of Thorn”: When you want to share the wisdom of a long marriage with a young engaged couple
“Man Steals Heart, No Charges Filed.” Songs 6: When you know in your heart of hearts your sonnet sucks, but then you read a police report headline and find a way to finally say all you ever wanted to say about love
Make Me Redbud: For when the tree you planted has a story that needs told
Bierstadt Lake: In thanksgiving for love refound
Flagless Memorial Day, Psalm 30: When you want to thank a friend
Pomegranate: When you’ve been envious for years of a friend’s use of the word “pomegranatelessness” in an essay, and you finally find a way to write your own pomegranate poem
Waiting for the Spirit After a Sabbath’s Journey: When something in Scripture bugs you
If I Step Into the Light: When you want to explain what happened (Kimberly Phinney published this one in Renaissance, 2024)
Hill Country Spring: When you want to explain what happened, part 2
Love Plant, Songs 7: When you desire a sexy poem that isn’t too clutch-your-pearls
Behold: When you want to explain why you’re okay (most days) with what happened
Golden-Cheeked Warbler: For when the endangered bird shows you who you are (Kimberly Phinney published this one in Renaissance, 2024)
Ephphatha, Mark 7:31-37: For the prayer of your heart
Homecoming, Songs 8: For when people ask, How do you keep going?
The answer? It’s all about Love & other Mysteries.
Happy poeming!
Megan