Please, Do Not Wander

A poem for your Friday & a special announcement

Hello friend,

Thank you for inviting me into your inbox, for reading my words, for being one of my people.

Even though I can’t see you reading these words, I feel you on the other side of this screen and my heart overflows a bit imagining this exchange. Gosh how these connections, this sharing, this sipping side by side matters.

Below you will find a poem (one of 99 poems in my book “Staying in Love”) and an exciting announcement, that involves the incredible human & poet James Crews (whom I adore). If you don’t yet know James, his beautiful poetry & collection of stunning anthologies, this is your lucky day. You can simply click on his name (above) and it will take you straight to his Substack page. You can also find him at HIS WEBSITE.

I send you so much love on this Friday. May your weekend be full of the very best kind of nourishment.

With overflowing gratitude,

Julia xo

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Photo by James Wainscoat on Unsplash

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Please, Do Not Wander

I know the world looks lost, broken,
in too many pieces to repair, that here
might be the last place
you want to be. But please, please Love,
do not wander. Do not stray into
crowded streets, cowardly corners—

it is not possible to drink from what is empty.

From my kitchen window, I watch
two hummingbirds sip side by side. Yesterday
they chased each other away
chirping mine mine mine . Today, somehow,
despite the breathless weight of midwinter,
they have learned that there is plenty—
the tenderness of their sharing makes me cry.

As I watch them, I think, if tiny birds can learn to share,
to sip side by side, maybe
we can too. Maybe, despite the weight
of this deep, dark, relentlessly
draining winter, we too can learn
to drink from the fountain of plenty, to resolve to stay
and stay right where we are.

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The above poem is one of 99 poems in my book Staying in Love. Signed copies & signed poetry prints are available at the below link

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And now, the special announcement.

There will be more information as we get closer to the date, but enough now so that you can pencil the date on your calendar.

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To those of you who were there for my conversation with the amazing Ellen Rowland, thank you again for your kind, beautiful presence. What a rich, inspiring, nourishing time it was. Thank you again, Ellen.

If you were unable to attend live & are a paying subscriber of my Substack page, you can listen to the replay HERE. Some of the poems Ellen shared on Wednesday are at this link as well.

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