Today is “Poem in Your Pocket Day.” This is a great excuse to carry around a little spark of meaning (or mischief) in your day. What kind of vibe would you go for? Something:
- Thoughtful and reflective?
- Short and punchy?
- Funny or offbeat?
- A classic you love?
- Personal or unexpected?
For me, I wanted a poem with purpose—one that reinforces my lifetime habit of pausing to sit on benches I’ve never rested on before. This simple sixty-second practice transforms both your day and your relationship with public spaces.
If you’d like to join me in this mini-revolution of mindfulness, carry this poem in your pocket tomorrow:
A bench I’ve never met before
I pause, I sit, and time bends more.
Sixty seconds, still and kind,
The world slows down, my soul unwinds.
I wrote mine on the back of an oatmeal box. Why oatmeal? Because words, like breakfast, are best when they stick with you. But seriously, there’s something about elevating everyday materials to carry meaningful words.
I’ve discovered that cutting boxes into 2.5″ × 3.5″ rectangles (standard trading card size) creates perfect pocket-sized canvases for poems, art, and small moments of intention.
What poem will you carry in your pocket tomorrow? And which bench might be waiting for your first visit?
My favorite fits in a pocket poem
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
Looking up this poem, I see this was written in 1923, and is a prime example of early twentieth-century Imagism.
I asked the Chat GPT, ” is twentieth-century Imagism in literature related to any visual art movements of the same time?”
Here is one of the points it made:
Me likey!