5-7-5 Books
This is but one poetry project, and the tab structure of this webpage is a bit odd. Find more of my poems here.
5-7-5 poems were a daily practice that I began in September of 2022 and concluded in February of 2023. Each day I used the structure of a three-line poem (with 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively) to name a predominant feeling or question that is living within me.
These Are Not Haikus
<-- Watch the video to hear me explain why. Also, a helpful read on the subject.
How I Make the Books
After four months of writing daily 5-7-5 poems, I decided to craft them into small, handmade books.
A Select Selection of 5-7-5 Poems
September 2022
September 15, 2022
Therapy is strange.
I pay hourly, yes, and,
begrudgingly, too.
September 19, 2022
My career goal?
Survive capitalism,
eyes still twinkling.
September 28, 2022
My spirit needs fresh
air. The sun feels different
through a window pane.
October 2022
October 3, 2022
What are you saving
for? What are you waiting for?
Do you think you’re well?
October 8, 2022
A soft place to land
is what I have found. Land first.
Rest. Then, ask, “What’s next?”
October 11, 2022
Joy withheld for fear
of making a dumb mistake.
What’s a dumb mistake?
October 14, 2022
Not everything needs
to be sustainable for
always and ever.
October 19, 2022
Out of nowhere, I’m
suddenly quite tired. It’s
not out of nowhere.
November 2022
November 1, 2022
I trust abundance.
One moment of lack, loss does
not speak for the whole.
November 8, 2022
Relief is calling
at five and learning I don’t
have jury duty.
November 11, 2022
When I tell you my
label, I hand you clues for
what lives inside me.
November 14, 2022
What if crankiness
were just knowledge afraid to
name itself today?
November 26, 2022
When will wisdom tooth
stop aggravating cheek? No
dental insurance.
December 2022
December 4, 2022
Laughing with pewmates
about our noble attempts
at unison prayer.
December 5, 2022
Sore mouth, runny nose,
a stupid cough. Oh, sweetheart,
it will get better.
December 7, 2022
This is new terrain.
Our nervous systems were
better rested then.
December 18, 2022
A one lady press
around my kitchen table
brings words to pages.
December 20, 2022
She argues that our
need for hibernation is
more than symbolic
December 21, 2022
To find myself in
peaceful flow today is a
gift of the Solstice.
December 23, 2022
Overwhelm? Yes, but
peace on the heels of joy, too.
My, what alchemy.
December 31, 2022
I think what I want
to learn most is how to coax
plenty from not much.
January 2023
January 2, 2023
All the day long, I
burned a candle in a jar
to know God's presence.
January 8, 2023
I move forward inch
by inch, trusting another
to come soon enough.
January 10, 2023
Thank Christ for friends who
set the world right again by
responding with care.
January 11, 2023
My questions are a
harbinger of joy, that is,
I am excited.
January 20, 2023
I will be faithful
in my honesty about
what doesn't add up.
January 21, 2023
There is a crucial
difference between lean and
rickety. Be smart.
January 21, 2023 (bonus poem!)
She pulled walnuts out
of her trail mix to add them
to the brownies. Ha!
January 27, 2023
Today was anchored
by the still, small voice that had
rather plain requests.
January 31, 2023
The smell of Woolite
caps off a very good day
(perks of handwashing).
February 2023
February 1, 2023
One door closes and
another one opens; it's
quite a wind tunnel.
February, 12, 2023
For just a moment
the chocolate buttercream
was the only thing.
February, 15, 2023
Origin stories
aren't fate, but they're also
not irrelevant.
February, 19, 2023
Sweet one, there is no
need to self-deprecate as
you figure it out.