30th Dec...Poetry in 2024 for 2025
Goodbye '24, Hello '25!
I’m SO EXCITED—yep, SO EXCITED! It’s been officially ONE MONTH that my third collection of poetry Poems For My People: Community, Volume 3 has ACTUALLY been published.
It’s been a long time coming. I’m very much a human and I don’t use AI to write poems when I’m writing on my typewriter. I write at a human pace. And one of my writing friends likes to remind me that writing takes the time it takes.
And, since it’s approaching the end of 2024 and the start of 2025, I want to take some time to radiate the JOY through the screen here to share with you what it feels like to hold my own book in my hand. Ahhh! It’s so cool…that’s how it feels, haha!…”The Yellow Book” is here (!!!) and it’s available to purchase online via other online bookshops as ebook and hardcover. This baby arrived into the world ONE MONTH AGO on November 30, 2024.
I hope when you receive your own copy that you buy from the bookshop that you have joyous tears, too.
If you want a signed-by-me-the-author copy, buy my book here. :) Otherwise it’s available via online bookshops—or, ask your local independent bookstore to order you a copy!
Here's a photo of my typewriter poet view whenever I’ve been out poetry busking at Yellow Bike Coffee in Duluth, Minnesota. Fueled by coffee and poetic requests in a really cool space.
Grab a coffee and visit these lovely Yellow Bike Coffee People at:
4411 Venture Avenue (near the airport)
Duluth, MN 55811
U.S.A.
or
600 E Superior Street (in Fitger’s)
Duluth, MN 55802
U.S.A.
Find out more about Yellow Bike Coffee joy on their website here:
https://www.yellowbike.coffee/.
Oh, and if you weren’t sure why I call it “the yellow book” it’s because it’s the third in a series of Poems For My People. I’m creating a rainbow of a collection—because I thought it’d look amazing on your bookshelf!
As a celebration to share with you that Poems For My People: Community, Volume 3 is (wahoo!!) finally out…here’s a mini-essay, a “Coffee Chat…” Just pretend like we’re sat in a coffee shop together (like Yellow Bike in Duluth) and we’re having a chat about why I’m sat there with my typewriter.
Here’s… “Feeling Writerly.” Enjoy!
How do you write poetry?
For me, I write poetry by writing poetry! That’s a really good first step: like, literally just start writing. One of the things I love so much about poetry is that pretty much anything goes. Yes, there are lots of rules and forms and restrictions to poetry in many cases–if you want to follow that structure. But there’s also a breath of fresh air freedom if you want it.
Starting can be the hardest part. Be curious about what blocks you have that are preventing you from writing poetry. This curiosity can lead you to an openness that can spill out into profound beauty on the page. Poetry is about curiosity for me, and it’s about wonder. There’s a delicate tension that poetry can embrace that is posing questions and being willing to leave them unanswered.
Write poetry with a daily prompt. Write poetry after you’ve read poetry. Write poetry on your own, silently, just for yourself. Write poetry in a group or class and share it at an open mic. Write poetry to paint a picture with words. Write poetry to explore emotions. Write poetry in a restrictive format for the challenge. Just write poetry to play with words, breathe onto the page of emptiness. You can do it!
Yellow Bike Coffee has been hosting me as Typewriter-Poet-in-Residence for two years and has made space for the writing of poems in each of the red, orange, and now, yellow collections, Poems For My People: Community, Volumes 1, 2, and 3. I’ve written and shared a couple hundred poems with Duluthians and visitors alike who have strode through Yellow Bike Coffee’s doors.
The impression Shannon, her team, and their beans have left on me is deeper than a coffee stain, more beautiful than a perfectly poured cup of latte art, more invigorating than a shot of pure espresso…and, it is so much fun!
I hope and pray you experience some of this in the pages of Poems For My People: Community, Volume 3. It truly is a special collection.
With lots of poetry love,
I wish you very happy reading!
Molly
Happy New Year! You can buy my book here. Yay!
P.S. Here I am posing with an autumnal beverage and my trusty typewriter in Yellow Bike Coffee. Stay tuned for more creativity avalanche and poetry joy.
May The Muse Be With You in '25!!