July overwhelms me. It’s abundant in every way, overflowing with flowers and sunlight as well as noise, crowds, and humidity. Have you noticed how quiet winter becomes? I long for it. But this is July, and there’s a lot going on. The internet is thrumming with millions of queries as we all find things to wonder about. Here are a few hot topics for July, per Google Trends. 

I define a walk as moving at an even pace without having both feet off the ground at the same time. Merriam-Webster classifies a walk as “to move along on foot : advance by steps.” The Cambridge Dictionary suggests a walk is “to move along by putting one foot in front of the other, allowing each foot to touch the ground before lifting the next.” People go on walks for all kinds of reasons: curiosity, pleasure, exercise, even religious pilgrimage. Walking is a relationship unique to the individual. Every walk is different, even if the path or routine is the same. It is a process that, whether we are conscious of it or not, involves the whole self: the mental, the emotional, and the physical.

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably (at least a little bit) interested in reading poetry. You might want to spend an hour going to a reading or sitting down with a new collection, but it’s not always possible to fit it into your busy schedule. As an alternative, here are some bite-size ways to fit poetry into your daily life. 

“Find the edges of your body.” K. Iver’s instruction sounded simple. I thought about the faded, spice-red, velvet-like seat underneath me, my back leaning against its smooth, unforgiving wood backrest. The sensation of cool sweatpants falling over my knees and the warm plate of to-go dinner sitting on my lap became increasingly apparent. I stared at K with great intent and curiosity, waiting for their next words.

Though we hope our summer days aren’t cloudy, we’re still spending plenty of time in the digital cloud. In an age of widespread anxiety and unrest, there’s more on our minds than vacation and BBQs and we’re looking to the web for guidance. Here’s a review of June’s trending searches, paired with relevant poems to help us reflect, relax, and think more deeply about this curious life.

Thank you, Poetry Society of NY. I love this crystal ball! What shall we do with it? Let’s envision another world with this crystal ball—one based not on domination and subordination but on collaboration and partnership, compassion and empathy, empathy, empathy.

If, like me, your last attempt to answer your dad’s question, “What’s so great about poetry anyway?” ended in monosyllables and nondescript grunts, maybe it’s time to show rather than tell. Here are five different poems for five different types of dads for those dedicated Father’s Day gift-givers that might shed some light onto what exactly is so great about poetry, while showing him some timely appreciation along the way.

As people, we have an instinct to sort ourselves into groups. From politics to religion to hobbies, we constantly seek out ways to fit into larger communities. Groups remove social ambiguity and allow us to feel secure. But poetry disrupts some of this security and puts us back into a gray area. Its possibilities offer versatility: every line in a poem can be meticulously interpreted and re-interpreted, each time teaching us a new lesson. Poems can be crafted, extended or shortened to form a shape. They can be read aloud, or they can be thought over in our racing minds.

May’s trending search topics conveyed a strong collective negativity bias. I guess we’re all trying our hardest to survive. With any luck, reading poetry can help.

Writing a poem can often feel daunting. The blank page (or screen) sometimes reveals more shadows than rays of inspiration. Luckily, for anyone in search of a poetic thumb (of any pigment, fragrance, or seed variety), when approached in a step-by-step form, the process is surprisingly friendly—and rewarding.