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.
Andrea Gibson
On July 14th, the world lost an amazing soul. Poet Laureate of Colorado, Andrea Gibson was just shy of 50 years old when they left this earthly plane due to ovarian cancer. I’m careful not to say anything about a battle, as the social media post announcing their death begins, “Andrea didn’t lose a battle with anything.”
Andrea was renowned and beloved in poetry communities across the U.S., and their death was met with an outpouring of love and support, often in the form of shared poetry. Their poem, “Love Letter from the Afterlife,” feels the most poignant to me at this moment.
2. Coldplay Kiss Cam
Gosh, what a weird scandal. It took over my feed one morning, yet I had no idea what had actually happened. Circulating photos didn’t resonate for me as a person who would never be able to recognize most CEO’s and had never heard of a company called Astronomer before. TL;DR a rich business owner was likely caught in an extramarital affair thanks to the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert.
You might say it’s a nightmare, but if you really want to read about a nightmare kiss situation, then check out Tony Barnstone’s aptly named “Nightmare Kiss.”
3. Mercury Retrograde
Mercury went retrograde July 18th and folks either felt it, heard about it, or just had a hunch. Either way, the phenomenon showed up in search feeds across the country.
In looking for poems related to Mercury retrograde, I was delighted to find the phrase in one of my favorites, “Things Haunt” by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza. This one hits hard.
4. Chronic Venous Insufficiency
The pressure was on for Donald Trump to divulge some sort of health update after multiple camera operators zoomed in on a strange patch of skin on his hand, which appeared covered with thick makeup. Shortly thereafter, officials announced a diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency. It was a familiar one for me—my good friend has that.
Getting a chronic condition diagnosed can be tough. Craig Morgan Teicher writes about the particular fear and anticipation of the medical world in “In the Waiting Room.”
5. Happy Gilmore 2
Happy Gilmore 2 premiered on Netflix July 25th, boosted by a supportive Instagram story from Taylor Swift. Swift’s boyfriend plays a small part in the film, and people love to love their love.
With the combination of love and happy-ness, how could I not opt to end on this high note? These days, we all need to find moments of joy. Let’s cap off the month with a poem about over-abundant happiness from Naomi Shihab Nye.
And so July, in all its abundance, draws to a close. It has reminded me that seasons change, all things begin and end, and we can always find one or two small things to smile about.
Written by Allisonn Church
Allisonn Church was born in a small rural community to a mother who pinned butterflies in glass cases and hid scarab beetles in her jewelry box. Her first favorite poem was “The Willow Fairy”’ by Cicely Mary Barker. Find a list of Allisonn's published work at churchpoems.wordpress.com.