Thank you for buying my illustrated poem - I'm really grateful for your support 🙏.
The majority of the poems I write start out as explorations of situations I want a different perspective about. They often start with my current thinking and then look to turn it on its head. Perhaps that's why they resonate - because I'm not alone in feeling like this.
I'm going to assume you're here because you're intrigued about what you could do with the poem to help you see the situation you're facing differently. Before I share some ideas there's a couple of things I'd like to say:
What Could You Do With The Poem?
The first thing to say is that there is no right or wrong way to use a poem. Although reading it a couple of times comes high up the list of suggestions - and saying it out loud can help too.
You might read it once, have enjoyed it and leave it there.
You might read it and let it percolate over the next few days and just see what comes to mind.
Which is what you're looking out for really - there's not a logical list of lessons or take away for any poem. There's just where the poem allows your thinking to go. I often say that metaphor and poems help us tap into our inner wisdom - so please don't discount a thought or feeling that arises as you read the poem - do please follow the tangents. Because it's those very tangents that will allow what's hidden to come into view.
Which is a great reminder that you could come back to the poem some time later and think you're reading a different poem - that's because you're resonating with different patterns within the poem - you have changed your thinking and so too your relationship with the words.
If a word stops you in your tracks stay with the word and allow it to fully share its secrets - what does the word want you to know?
Feel free to write, draw, highlight, circle phrases, add questions or reflections - ie do what ever makes the most sense for you - there's even a few notes pages at the back of the book too.
The words might invite you to write a poem for yourself or draw how you're feeling - the initial premise of the Beyond the Web poem was a series of drawings which helped me see the situation differently - adding the words a year later helped cement the insight.
Talking with others about their take aways from the poem can be really helpful too. I've run many workshops sharing one or a number of my poems and it never fails to amaze me the new insights I get - ie I may have written the poem but once it's released out into the world it has other meanings too. Just be careful others don't try to enforce their view of the poem on you - their perspective is just one view to add, or not, to your own. No right or wrong.
You could ask questions alone or in a group such as:
And if the poem has prompted a thought, a conversation or even another poem of your own, I'd love to hear about it alison@alisonsmith.co (yes just .co).
Want to Explore a Little Further?
In addition to the books listed below I've recently started Conversations From the Bookshelf - where books talk, poems think and inner wisdom surfaces. Where a poem and the conversation with a book helps a stranger to see the situation they're struggling with from a different point of view. Conversations to date include:
Poems published by Amazon worldwide include
Coming very soon
Other books published include
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