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Poetry for Strangers

The word: Coconut

October 18, 2019

Dear readers: Before this week’s poem, two new projects with events this coming week: Fear of the Beast: Artist Troy Passey and I have created a new book together called Fear of the Beast, about the human relationship with animals—whether we are eating animals, keeping animals as pets, or telling stories about animals that we are too afraid…

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The word: Calibrated

October 4, 2019

Dear readers: greetings on this early October day. Poetry for Strangers and I are back from vacation. The summer of beautiful chaos and travel ended with a trip to Vancouver to visit my dear college roommate who was attending a sleep conference. I got predictably confused with the train ticket machines at the airport. There were…

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The word: Freedom

June 26, 2019

“You don’t enter an open door but you enter an open face.” This Somalian proverb was shared with me by Mo, who does building maintenance in Boise and whose grandfather was a poet. I met Mo while standing at the base of a staircase downtown, writing down an idea; he walked by and smiled.  …

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The word: Cooperative

June 19, 2019

Today marks Poetry for Strangers’ 300th poem! Thank you, dear readers, both for reading and for your notes of appreciation over the years. This poem is part two from last week’s poem. Jacob was the producer of the youtube interview with Sohail. He has moved from LA, where he owns a production company, to Boise,…

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The word: Peace

June 12, 2019

Elizabeth does make-up for television, is about to graduate from Boise State, and looks forward to traveling the world. I met her when I was filming a cool youtube interview with my friend Sohail, one of my earliest strangers for this project (his word: blessed). I was given words by two people on the film…

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The word: Happiness

June 5, 2019

Quick fun news first: my TEDx talk, linking poetry to tiny house family life, went live! I hope you enjoy. Now onto this week’s stranger: I was at a café writing last week’s poem when a stranger stopped next to my table, phone in hand, to show me a photo. She said, “I had to show someone:…

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The word: Phenomenal

May 29, 2019

I met Mike at a tapas bar where I was having a date with my person and he was having a goodbye dinner with a friend before moving away. We talked about what draws us to a place or away from it, and what we leave behind in a city. When I asked for a…

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The word: Colibrí

May 22, 2019

I spent a dizzying, fun day at Disneyland with my almost five-year-old, who said of it all: “This is like one small busy world.” I had given him a little spending money, which he spent promptly on cotton candy. At the day’s end he saw a woman who painted faces and I could see his…

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The word: Capture

May 15, 2019

What is the capital of Vermont? (guess, readers – don’t google!) I guessed wrong. It’s Montpelier. Aron, purveyor of random trivia, quizzed me on a Lyft ride about capital cities worldwide. We had a fun time talking about the things we insist our kids learn by heart—for Aron’s kids, capitals and geography. For mine, fairy…

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The word: Resilience

May 8, 2019

At a café, a kind stranger named Ben swapped tables with me so I could plug in a computer. I learned that he is a studying for a degree in Construction Management, to build smart houses that will shape the future of how we live.   His word, resilience, brings me to some news I want…

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Founded in 2013, Poetry for Strangers is a project dedicated to finding inspiration in the chance encounters of everyday life. PFS suggests that every person can be the muse of a poem. Each week I ask a stranger for a word and write a poem inspired by the word. I invite you to do the same.

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