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Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems
Mindfulness poems invite us to bring our whole self to whatever moment we’re in, and truly live it. They encourage us to be more present, more attentive and compassionate, in the living of our days. They grant us a taste of being good enough, just as we are, in this world, just as it is.
Poetry of Presence ($21.95; dimensions 6″ x 9″) is a collection of more than 150 mindfulness poems, mostly by contemporary or recent poets. These poems call us to the Here and Now, and help us to dwell there. The Here and Now is all that truly belongs to us, and as the poets say, it’s enough.
This is a book for the times we live in. An inspiring read for lovers of beautiful, accessible poetry, it’s also a valuable resource for literature teachers, spiritual directors, meditators, interfaith clergy, mindfulness trainers, social workers, counselors, poetry therapists, hospice and grief workers, and medical personnel.
Anthologized poets include Yehuda Amichai • Margaret Atwood • Ellen Bass • Wendell Berry • Robert Bly • Billy Collins • Mahmoud Darwish • Thich Nhat Hanh • Joy Harjo • Tony Hoagland • Miroslav Holub • Marie Howe • Erica Jong • Kabir • Galway Kinnell • Ted Kooser • Howard Nemerov • Kathleen Norris • Mary Oliver • Rainer Maria Rilke • Rumi • May Sarton • William Stafford • David Wagoner • Alice Walker and many more.
"I’ll keep this by my side to read one poem a day to return to a state of mindfulness, breathing language through the heart. If you choose one anthology, I say let it be this one for the amazement⎯for the voices that, surprisingly, will speak to what you want to find in yourself.”
⎯ Grace Cavalieri, Host and Producer, “The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress”
“The poems in this book, arranged gently and creatively, are an invitation to mindful presence and to a world where words and phrases initiate us, wake us up, and guide us home.”
⎯ Kelly Boys, Host of The Year of Mindfulness and mindfulness consultant to the United Nations Foundation
“These poems remind us to live `undefended.’ To stand, deliberately and consciously, as witnesses of the present moment. To gaze upon existence from the place of Divine Intimacy. To reach out from that place to those who suffer. Living this way takes lots of practice. Poetry of Presence will be a companion and guide, leading us into deeper communion with the world.”
⎯ Fr. Richard Rohr, Founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, and The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See
“After reading just a poem or two in Poetry of Presence, I started quieting down, breathing easier. The poems had already begun to do their work. What a gift! This will be a book I will return to again and again to find the peaceful presence I need to face the day.”
⎯ Megan Scribner, Co-author of Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach
“Especially in times of challenge, I turn to poetry in my life, and in my work. Poetry expresses the ineffable⎯that which is beyond logic and linear thinking⎯like God, or love or presence. In my mindfulness teaching, poetry is always present and I look forward to using the poems in this beautiful collection on a regular basis.”
⎯ Rabbi Jill Berkson Zimmerman, Founder of the Jewish Mindfulness Network
“This collection of poems is an invitation toward ‘being’ with the present moment, through the written word. I am moved, inspired and surprised by the powerful and clear voices in these poems: both new gems, and old friends. In teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, I know Poetry of Presence will be a regular resource, as it speaks directly to the heart of being fully human.”
⎯ Holly Nelson-Johnson, MBSR Mentor for the University of California-San Diego Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute, and president of Mindfulness for Living
“Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby Wilson have collected an extensive anthology of exquisite poetry that can open the minds and hearts of readers to the richness and vastness of the present moment. As a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher, I find this collection to be a true gift, with poems that I will share with the participants in my classes for years to come.”
⎯ Diane Reibel, Ph.D., Director of the Mindfulness Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and coauthor of Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators
Poetry of Presence ($21.95; dimensions 6″ x 9″) is a collection of more than 150 mindfulness poems, mostly by contemporary or recent poets. These poems call us to the Here and Now, and help us to dwell there. The Here and Now is all that truly belongs to us, and as the poets say, it’s enough.
This is a book for the times we live in. An inspiring read for lovers of beautiful, accessible poetry, it’s also a valuable resource for literature teachers, spiritual directors, meditators, interfaith clergy, mindfulness trainers, social workers, counselors, poetry therapists, hospice and grief workers, and medical personnel.
Anthologized poets include Yehuda Amichai • Margaret Atwood • Ellen Bass • Wendell Berry • Robert Bly • Billy Collins • Mahmoud Darwish • Thich Nhat Hanh • Joy Harjo • Tony Hoagland • Miroslav Holub • Marie Howe • Erica Jong • Kabir • Galway Kinnell • Ted Kooser • Howard Nemerov • Kathleen Norris • Mary Oliver • Rainer Maria Rilke • Rumi • May Sarton • William Stafford • David Wagoner • Alice Walker and many more.
"I’ll keep this by my side to read one poem a day to return to a state of mindfulness, breathing language through the heart. If you choose one anthology, I say let it be this one for the amazement⎯for the voices that, surprisingly, will speak to what you want to find in yourself.”
⎯ Grace Cavalieri, Host and Producer, “The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress”
“The poems in this book, arranged gently and creatively, are an invitation to mindful presence and to a world where words and phrases initiate us, wake us up, and guide us home.”
⎯ Kelly Boys, Host of The Year of Mindfulness and mindfulness consultant to the United Nations Foundation
“These poems remind us to live `undefended.’ To stand, deliberately and consciously, as witnesses of the present moment. To gaze upon existence from the place of Divine Intimacy. To reach out from that place to those who suffer. Living this way takes lots of practice. Poetry of Presence will be a companion and guide, leading us into deeper communion with the world.”
⎯ Fr. Richard Rohr, Founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, and The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See
“After reading just a poem or two in Poetry of Presence, I started quieting down, breathing easier. The poems had already begun to do their work. What a gift! This will be a book I will return to again and again to find the peaceful presence I need to face the day.”
⎯ Megan Scribner, Co-author of Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach
“Especially in times of challenge, I turn to poetry in my life, and in my work. Poetry expresses the ineffable⎯that which is beyond logic and linear thinking⎯like God, or love or presence. In my mindfulness teaching, poetry is always present and I look forward to using the poems in this beautiful collection on a regular basis.”
⎯ Rabbi Jill Berkson Zimmerman, Founder of the Jewish Mindfulness Network
“This collection of poems is an invitation toward ‘being’ with the present moment, through the written word. I am moved, inspired and surprised by the powerful and clear voices in these poems: both new gems, and old friends. In teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, I know Poetry of Presence will be a regular resource, as it speaks directly to the heart of being fully human.”
⎯ Holly Nelson-Johnson, MBSR Mentor for the University of California-San Diego Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute, and president of Mindfulness for Living
“Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby Wilson have collected an extensive anthology of exquisite poetry that can open the minds and hearts of readers to the richness and vastness of the present moment. As a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher, I find this collection to be a true gift, with poems that I will share with the participants in my classes for years to come.”
⎯ Diane Reibel, Ph.D., Director of the Mindfulness Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and coauthor of Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators
248 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2017
45 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
April 23, 2023
Wisdom
is
accepting
the
shape
of
your life
is
accepting
the
shape
of
your life
February 14, 2022
A beautiful anthology of poetry by some of my favorites. This is one that I will return to again and again.
February 28, 2018
This is a much more important poetry book than I have ever encountered before, and I have a lot of books from famous authors. I chose to include a reading of one poem a day into my morning practice. I have often been awakened, challenged and grateful to have read any one of the poems included in this anthology and since I have read all of the poems now, I will start at the beginning, but also just open it randomly, as a way of being surprised and invited to use the idea that every one of these poems embody. There are famous authors, their are historical authors, there are authors I had not encountered before this, yet I have never been disappointed by my poem for the day.
June 7, 2020
I have been choosing a poem each day at random from Poetry of Presence, and with everything that is going on in the world (the pandemic, racism, economic instability, our embarrassing, ineffective and hate-filled administration ...) this wonderful volume has felt like a lifeline. It seems I always choose just the poem I need to read, and that may be because we all need poetry now, more than ever. This is a superb collection that I highly recommend.
April 23, 2020
You can use this as an intro to some outstanding writers who're tuned into universally focused meditation and mindfulness - some from today and some from the past.
February 20, 2023
I really loved going through this collection over the past few months. Wonderful variety of poets and perspectives on mindfulness from different cultures, landscapes, and languages. Some somber, some thoughtful, some full of hope. Lovely.
August 4, 2020
The poems in this anthology, as per the subtitle, were all selected for their capacity to inspire 'keeping our heads and hearts where our bodies are'; in other words . . . moments of mindfulness.
As with any anthology, there will be poems that speak to you, and ones that won't. I was pleased by how many here did, particularly as preludes to meditation . . . which is exactly what I used them for.
Before meditating each morning, I would read one poem. Armed with my cup of coffee, it helped me step into the present . . . or prepare to.
On page 52, Kabir writes,
Let your arrogance go, and look around inside.
The blue sky opens out further and farther,
the daily sense of failure goes away,
the damage I have done to myself fades,
a million suns come forward with light,
when I sit firmly in that world.
As with any anthology, there will be poems that speak to you, and ones that won't. I was pleased by how many here did, particularly as preludes to meditation . . . which is exactly what I used them for.
Before meditating each morning, I would read one poem. Armed with my cup of coffee, it helped me step into the present . . . or prepare to.
On page 52, Kabir writes,
Let your arrogance go, and look around inside.
The blue sky opens out further and farther,
the daily sense of failure goes away,
the damage I have done to myself fades,
a million suns come forward with light,
when I sit firmly in that world.
April 30, 2024
Sooo sooo good. Even for those who may not enjoy reading poetry. I’ve read and re-read so many of these poems already. This is one of those collections I will just have in the back pocket of my life to keep returning to. Half the pages of my copy are now dogeared and I have found so many of my new favorite poems in this collection. A seriously contemplative, earthy, and peace-giving collection.
January 9, 2022
beautiful works in here
April 7, 2021
This is a brilliant anthology of poems that speaks to what it is like to be living this human life. This was a thoughtful gift from a student and I think of him with such appreciation each time I pick it up, which is daily. A book to read and savor again and again.
May 31, 2020
This collection is the perfect morning companion, offering a poem each day to create mindfulness and centering for the day. Featuring well known and some of my favorite poets such as Naomi Shihab Nye, Mary Oliver, Alice Walker, Rumi and others interspersed with poets that were new to me. I will be putting Poetry of Presence in the rotation with some of my tried and true volumes I use as part of my spiritual disciplines. My only complaint is that someone should have designed the cover better--such a lovely book and such a dated cover!
September 23, 2017
Poetry of Presence is a beautiful collection of poems, written by many very talented poets. It is a collection to savor and reread. You will find yourself coming back to it over and over as life changes happen, each time gaining more wisdom, advice, and peace from the words within.
Okay, I have to be completely honest here for a bit. I did not enjoy poetry in high school; all that analyzing and pulling each poem apart, trying to discover it's meaning. It just wasn't fun for me as the teacher tried to get us to 'get it'. So, my attitude has always been, I don't do poetry.
Poetry of Presence advises the reader to slow down, read and enjoy each poem, think about how it relates to your life. Some you may 'get' right away—it will speak to you. Others, maybe not. Or maybe not right now. Maybe it will speak to you at a later time. Come back to it.
This is going to be a slow read for me because I am going to take their advice. I am going to savor each poem, marking the ones I love and noting the ones to come back to. Honestly, Poetry of Presence made me rethink my feelings about poetry—I now do poetry.
Okay, I have to be completely honest here for a bit. I did not enjoy poetry in high school; all that analyzing and pulling each poem apart, trying to discover it's meaning. It just wasn't fun for me as the teacher tried to get us to 'get it'. So, my attitude has always been, I don't do poetry.
Poetry of Presence advises the reader to slow down, read and enjoy each poem, think about how it relates to your life. Some you may 'get' right away—it will speak to you. Others, maybe not. Or maybe not right now. Maybe it will speak to you at a later time. Come back to it.
This is going to be a slow read for me because I am going to take their advice. I am going to savor each poem, marking the ones I love and noting the ones to come back to. Honestly, Poetry of Presence made me rethink my feelings about poetry—I now do poetry.
May 20, 2023
Now is the Time
By Hafiz
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you finally live
With veracity
And love. . .
That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
* * *
When I Am Among the Trees
By Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
* * *
How to Be a Poet (to remind myself)
By Wendell Berry
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
By Hafiz
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you finally live
With veracity
And love. . .
That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
* * *
When I Am Among the Trees
By Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
* * *
How to Be a Poet (to remind myself)
By Wendell Berry
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
December 17, 2017
Being an anthology, this collection exposes the reader to many different poets and many differing approaches to poetry. Not all of them will be enjoyed equally by any one reader, of course, but I'd imagine that most readers who enjoy poetry and are interested in being more mindful and present would enjoy these 200 pages. I certainly did as I found old friends like Mary Oliver, Alberto Rios, and Thich Nhat Hanh here in addition to dozens upon dozens of poets unfamiliar to me. This book was well worth the investment of time and attention and reminded me over and over, in many ways, to be more mindful.
November 16, 2017
A collection of "mindfulness" poems, poems that call the reader to be more attentive and live more deeply in the present moment. In order to achieve its purpose, it is best that one poem be read meditatively each day, and that the reader stay with a line or phrase or image that resonates with them.
July 25, 2021
I finally finished this book of poems. I’ve been reading a few a week for over a year now. I really enjoyed the variety of authors. I dog eared the pages with my favorite poems, there are many dog-eared pages.
March 5, 2025
An absolutely stunning collection. This book is like a friendly hug, a warm cup of tea on a cold night, and a cat purring in your lap. Relaxing and rejuvenating. Calm and refreshing. Soothing. Highly recommend! Browsing the author info at the back has greatly increased my “to read” list!
Read
June 17, 2023This is a really exceptional anthology, and exactly what I needed for pandemic perusal.
November 21, 2023
A wonderful collection of poems to spend some time each day with.
A few of my favorite excerpts:
“It seems we have made pain
some kind of mistake,
like having it
is somehow wrong.
Don’t let them fool you—
pain is a part of things.
But remember, dear Ellie,
the compost down in the field:
if the rank and dank and dark
are handled well, not merely discarded,
but turned and known and honored,
they one day come to beds of rich earth
home even to the most delicate rose.
~
God comes to you disguised as your life.
Blessings often arrive as trouble.
In French, the word blesser means to wound
and relates to the Old English blestian—
to sprinkle with blood.
And in Sanskrit there is a phrase,
a phrase to carry with you
wherever you go:
sarvam annam:
everything is food.
Every last thing.”
from A Poem for My Daughter by Teddy Macker
“Now is the time to know
That all you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.”
from Now is the Time by Hafiz
“to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weighs you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you.
I will love you, again.”
The Thing Is by Ellen Bass
A few of my favorite excerpts:
“It seems we have made pain
some kind of mistake,
like having it
is somehow wrong.
Don’t let them fool you—
pain is a part of things.
But remember, dear Ellie,
the compost down in the field:
if the rank and dank and dark
are handled well, not merely discarded,
but turned and known and honored,
they one day come to beds of rich earth
home even to the most delicate rose.
~
God comes to you disguised as your life.
Blessings often arrive as trouble.
In French, the word blesser means to wound
and relates to the Old English blestian—
to sprinkle with blood.
And in Sanskrit there is a phrase,
a phrase to carry with you
wherever you go:
sarvam annam:
everything is food.
Every last thing.”
from A Poem for My Daughter by Teddy Macker
“Now is the time to know
That all you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.”
from Now is the Time by Hafiz
“to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weighs you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you.
I will love you, again.”
The Thing Is by Ellen Bass
January 16, 2021
This is an anthology and introduces us to poetry with a mindfulness perspective. I have been doing a lot of contemplative work and ritual lately since i have been retired and heard a poem from this book and got it to explore more. I am disappointed with the book. It is ok, but the poems seem rather ordinary to me. In the introduction it says that there are a lot of nature poems here. And too many for my liking. I can find spirituality in nature but also at so many more places. I was expected more use of word play and word pictures to express the experience of life in the moment. I started at the beginning and after about 30 pages visited the middle where I found more poems to my liking and then I skipped to the end and the last poem spoke to me. Smart Cookie by Richard Schiffman. "The fortune that you seek is in another cookie...So I'll be equally frank- the wisdom that you covet is in another poem. The life that you desire is in a different universe...Be a smart cookie-eat what's on your plate....That's my wisdom for today, though I know it's not what you were looking for."
March 29, 2022
In search of a new spiritual practice/creative discipline/tool for expansion/whatever, I chose poetry. I am committed to reading one poetry book a week or an anthology a month for the next 12 months. Will this experience change my life? Will I be a deeper thinker? A more compassionate person? More creative? Who knows! But it can't hurt, right?
I started this experiment with an easy entry, something sure to be enjoyable and enlightening. This collection of mindfulness poetry contains all the usual suspects. I've already mailed a copy off to a friend. It would be a great book to keep on a nightstand to read a poem before bed or as a morning meditation. There are one or two poems which didn't speak to me at this time but they might be just what another reader needs or what I need during a later reread. Nothing shocking or surprising, if you are looking for stuff you haven't encountered before, there are probably better options. But if you are looking for a simple, reliable tool for reflection, this is a good place to start.
I started this experiment with an easy entry, something sure to be enjoyable and enlightening. This collection of mindfulness poetry contains all the usual suspects. I've already mailed a copy off to a friend. It would be a great book to keep on a nightstand to read a poem before bed or as a morning meditation. There are one or two poems which didn't speak to me at this time but they might be just what another reader needs or what I need during a later reread. Nothing shocking or surprising, if you are looking for stuff you haven't encountered before, there are probably better options. But if you are looking for a simple, reliable tool for reflection, this is a good place to start.
May 4, 2018
Exquisite book. "Poetry of Presence" is my new favorite companion. My treat for each day is to read a few poems from this delightful, insightful collection and think about them, as curators, Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby Wilson suggest in the “Invitation in the front of the book. I feel like I am visiting with many of my favorite poets, Lucille Clifton, May Sarton, Mary Oliver, Rumi, Denise Levertov, William Stafford as well as other fine poets I have come to know through this book. Each poem has nuggets of wisdom and comfort: Hannah Stephenson, “Ancient Language”; Helen Bass, “The Thing Is”; Albert Huffstickler, “The Cure”; Grace Butcher, “Learning from Trees”, and so many more. My copy is filled with bookmarks so I can return often. This is a must-have addition to the nightstand. It makes me feel better as a person to read these poems; it will not gather dust on a bookshelf at my home, it’s a handbook for living.
July 22, 2019
This book has been an inspiration and a life-saver for me and a widening circle of my friends. Do yourself a favor and order multiple copies from the start. Over the past two months I've ordered 3 batches of these - hoping it would say more than I could to friends and family dealing with illness, grief, the stresses and fears of ordinary life, or the simple need to slow down and take a quiet breath. Every one of us has found a lot of what we needed to hear in this wise volume.
The editors have gathered a wide range of expressive voices to create a moving collection of the kinds of poems they describe as "good medicine" - the ones we keep copies of in a desk drawer or on a bulletin board, forward to friends, copy in our journals. Their book has spoken more eloquently than I could to a lot of people I care about. If you are looking for a wise companion for yourself or someone you love, this is it.
The editors have gathered a wide range of expressive voices to create a moving collection of the kinds of poems they describe as "good medicine" - the ones we keep copies of in a desk drawer or on a bulletin board, forward to friends, copy in our journals. Their book has spoken more eloquently than I could to a lot of people I care about. If you are looking for a wise companion for yourself or someone you love, this is it.
July 26, 2023
When I am among trees, Mary Oliver
When I am among trees ,
Especially the willows and the honey locust,
Equally the beech, the oaks and the pines ,
They gave off such hints of gladness .
I would almost say that they save me , and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself ,
In which I have goodness, and discernment,
And never hurry through the world
But walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me, the Tree’s in their leaves
Call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches .
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “ and you, too, have come
Into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Fluent, John O’Donohue
I would love to live
Like a river flows ,
Carried by the surprise
If it’s own unfolding .
When I am among trees ,
Especially the willows and the honey locust,
Equally the beech, the oaks and the pines ,
They gave off such hints of gladness .
I would almost say that they save me , and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself ,
In which I have goodness, and discernment,
And never hurry through the world
But walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me, the Tree’s in their leaves
Call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches .
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “ and you, too, have come
Into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Fluent, John O’Donohue
I would love to live
Like a river flows ,
Carried by the surprise
If it’s own unfolding .
October 15, 2023
I've had this book for several years - it's been sitting on my living room coffee table - a title I got from Linda Brown when I asked where she finds mindfulness poems. I was poetry-hungry some evenings last week so I started reading and ended up covering the whole thing in 2 sittings (2 consecutive evenings). I made a list of the poems I liked; I'm not sure what I'll do with those. Most of the poems in the anthology, however, really missed the mark. They were TOO optimistic - TOO positive. They had injunctions like, "LOVE EVERYTHING." Um, nope. That's not a goal I'm interested in (I don't like loving-kindness meditations, either). I preferred the poems that addressed darkness, disappointment, brokenness, etc. and modeled how to welcome those things in.
May 20, 2025
A solid collection for my purposes. A collection of many contemporary poets - Lucille Clifton, Galway Kinnell, Ted Kooser - and some stalwart names - Pablo Neruda, Rumi. All examples are skilled, with a generally up-beat or essentially hopeful flavor. None seem inappropriate for the HS classroom. If you have both Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry anthologies and would like to extend poetry into the classroom with more examples, I'd suggest this and the second volume.
June 3, 2019
I'm not a huge poetry lover but I love this book. It's full of poems that make you feel better or that make you laugh or look at the world in a different way because they are all about mindfulness. Mindfulness helps you being in the present in a non judgmental way, it reduces stress, improves focus and emotions, helps with resilience and physical well being among other things. So, yes, I love this book and my own copy came in the mail today!
June 24, 2019
This is one of the best collections of poems on living fully in the present moment I've ever come across. In fact, I don't know of another collection like it. I've copied down probably about half of the poems in my journal. I could only read one or two at a time before laying it aside to ponder them deeper. A favorite from John O'Donohue:
Fluent
I would love to live
Like a river flow,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding. (p. 82)
Fluent
I would love to live
Like a river flow,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding. (p. 82)
February 22, 2021
I loved/love this book of poems. Most are short and evocative, as well as inspiring. All can lend you a moment or two of insight and a quiet receptive or expansive mind.
One example: The Moment by Marie Howe:
Oh, the coming-out-of-nowhere moment
when, nothing
happens
no what-have-I-to-do-today list
maybe half a moment
the rush of traffic stops. The whir of I should be, I should be
slows to silence,
the white cotton curtains hanging stil.
One example: The Moment by Marie Howe:
Oh, the coming-out-of-nowhere moment
when, nothing
happens
no what-have-I-to-do-today list
maybe half a moment
the rush of traffic stops. The whir of I should be, I should be
slows to silence,
the white cotton curtains hanging stil.
August 21, 2022
You have to be in the moment to appreciate this collection of mindfulness poems. Many of the poems speak of appreciating the life you have, paying attention to the world right in front of you, and passing to the next life knowing you appreciated beauty, love, and nature while you were on this earth.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews