Word of the Year

as an As In poem

Hello, Poetry Friend

Over at Tell Me A Story That’s True, Callie Feyen wrote an As In poem to explore her word of the year. Which is simply brilliant. Like her, I chose a word that has different meanings, depending on which part of speech it’s being used as.

I’ve never done a word of the year — I’ve always waited, since it seems to be something that reveals itself in hindsight. By that metric, 2023 would be a tie between psalm and Ave Maria. I have no idea what words will loom large when I sit here in January 2025, but at the moment I am filled with delightful words from Elizabeth Von Arnim’s 1922 novel The Enchanted April:

• so much joy

• strangely stirred

• curious infectiousness

• cups of acceptance

• washed through with light

• nobody put her in the shade

• not mind not minding

Somehow, from that, I found a word.

well

[wel] verb, noun, adverb, adjective, interjection

As in
I get in the cool shower, feel my soul well 
amid all this water.
It rises until it falls. It must fall.

As in 
the gold chalice Earl offers is so heavy, a well that holds,
a well that pours, a well that cannot
hold but to pour.

As in
what about all those unwell nights awake on the couch
every molecule tight against drought
no liquid for miles.

As in 
I cannot worry about well
only about how I make myself open,
how still, like flood, I rise.

As in
well, well, well

– Megan Willome

Poetry Journal

• Pick either Callie’s poem or mine and let it work in you. Sit with it, write about it, read it aloud, write some more.

• What is your word of the year? Look up all its definitions and see how that impacts your understanding of what it may mean to you in 2024.

• Why yes, there is a hat tip to Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” in my poem. What poem do you need today to help you write yours?

• I learned about As In poems from Kwame Alexander’s excellent middle grade novel in verse The Crossover. If you don’t have a poetic form in mind for your word, consider trying this one. If you like, email me what you write.

Happy poeming!

Megan