The Poetry Pharmacy: A Verse or Two for Whatever Ails You

The Poetry Corner is back with Season 3!

I recently learned about the coolest bookstore in the world—well, probably.

It’s called The Poetry Pharmacy, and it has a couple of locations in London. The whole premise is that patrons can get “prescriptions” for their various ailments in the form of poetry tucked neatly inside little pills.

Need a boost of confidence? Find some self-esteem with Mary Oliver. Have a broken heart? They’ve got you covered with a little Shakespeare! You name your woe; they’ll give you some Poe… err… maybe not Poe—but, hey, it rhymed! What I meant to say is you name your woe, and they’ll have some poetry for you to read and soothe your soul with.

Check out their collection: GET YOUR POETRY PILLS HERE.

So, in the spirit of The Poetry Pharmacy, I’d like to share some poetry for whatever ails you tonight. Simply scroll down to choose an ailment and see what I prescribed. I have some of my own poetry and poems from the greats featured or in hyperlinks, as well as our AMAZING SEASON 3 of THE POETRY CORNER that just debuted. It will speak directly into your soul since there is something here for everyone. Hear from

Bethany Peck

,

Mariana Herrera Mosli

,

Kristine Amundrud

,

Alicia Hamilton

,

Deborah Rutherford

, and so many more. A special thank you to

Edward Holmes

and

Deidre Braley

for producing The Poetry Corner!

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Here’s a link to the recording of our first class: Poetry University #1: "To Be of Use," Prosody and Prompts, The Poet's Manifesto, and Substack Tips.

PRESCRIPTION #1: I AM LACKING IN WONDER AND DELIGHT…

SEA OF STARS
by Kimberly Phinney

“A leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of stars.” 
–Walt Whitman

I rushed here to say:

What if the night sky—
     all ebbing sapphire and shadows—
          was the sea?

What if the flourishes of strata clouds—
     all stretched across the air like cotton spools unfurling—
          were the whitecaps of waves, 
               raging on throughout the world?

What if the errant planes were ancient ships lost to wrecks 
     and the birds were great blue whales—
          moving in pods toward the vast unknown?

And what if the stars—
     all the billions that go on multiplying while we dream—
          were glowing lighthouses beckoning us home?

What if? 
What if it’s so?
Would it change a thing?

No matter, because I am here, 
looking up and looking on.
A witness: landlocked, in awe,
and praising as if it was.

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PRESCRIPTION #2: I FEEL OVERWHELMED BY WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW…

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives might be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.  I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

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PRESCRIPTION #3: HONESTLY? I AM FEELING REALLY DEPRESSED, AND I WONDER IF I CAN KEEP GOING…

STAY
by Kimberly Phinney

“There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground; 
there are a thousand ways to go home again."
–Rumi