When Fear Finds You

Welcome to Pocketful of Prose, a community for sharing stories. As always, links are in bold, and there’s an audio of this pocket if that works better for your life. Yesterday, I wrote a guest post for my friend Andrea’s Substack Literary Merit where I recommended twelve books for the outdoor type. If you are seeking a beautiful read about the beautiful world we inhabit, you can find my suggestions here.

Without further ado, today’s pocket.

Suleika Jaouad released her second book, The Book of Alchemy, on Earth Day, earlier this week. In the introduction to the book, Suleika shares how she navigated challenging times in her life by opening a door to creativity. She participated in the 100-day project, where she did one creative act a day. For those who might want to give this a try, Suleika’s book features 100 different contributors, each sharing their writing and a unique prompt, intended to ignite something within us. Suleika refers to this experience of using other people’s work to spark creativity within your own work as “kaleidoscopic. A sentence, an idea, an anecdote could turn the barrel, refracting and reframing …perspective.” The words of great authors “twist(s) the cylinder, and the light f(alls) differently.”

This book is full of beautiful poems and prompts.

When I teach my students to write poems, I always have them start by reading the poems of others. I encourage them to use these poems as jumping off points for their own work. “Borrow a line,” I tell them. “See what happens,” which is why I was so delighted this past week when I participated in an online Writing and Self-Compassion Mini-Retreat with James Crews, and he invited us to write from one of his poems, “When Fear Takes Over,” published in his beautiful book Unlocking the Heart.

I don’t know how it’s going for you right now, but fear’s been trying to take over a lot in my life lately. Poetry is one of the things that helps me stay grounded.

On the final day of National Poetry Month, I offer you two poems, one beautiful poem written by James Crews, and one poem written by me, where I had the kind of “kaleidoscopic” experience Suleika describes, where the words of another, twisted the cylinder of my heart so what I needed filtered through.

I would love to continue this conversation in the comments. Try borrowing a line and see what happens. Share your words with us. Tell us what’s sparking your creativity and keeping you grounded.

When Fear Takes Over
by James Crews

Never underestimate the power
of your own gentle hand
when placed over a racing heart,
that press of flesh to flesh
which says: 
Yes, you will make it 
through this. 
Walk alone in the snowy woods and listen for the way trees speak
to each other in winter, rubbing
bare limbs together. 
Reach out to a friend, let their voice
be the lullaby you never heard
as a child. Let kind words
wrap around you like a blanket
so thick it soaks up the sound
of every secret worry
spoken to the air.

When Fear Finds You
by Mary Hutto Fruchter

When fear finds you
pull the carrots from the drawer and peel them
Cut them and set them in the blue bowl, 
the one you bought not because you needed it but because it was beautiful
Slice the celery in the same way… the onions, the garlic. 
Pull the hot peppers from the fridge, 
the ones your husband has already chopped for you
Pause for a moment on this kindness. 
Heat the cast iron over the stove, 
the same one you bought many years ago, 
when you were newly married, and you rode the bus home after purchasing it, 
shocked by its heaviness. 
Ground yourself in its solidity. 
As the pan heats, slowly add the olive oil. 
Pour it from the old wine bottle where it lives. 
Don’t worry if some of it is cloudy. 
Once it's hot, it won’t matter. 
Slowly, stir in your aromatics. 
The green in the garlic gets you every time. 
Breathe. 
Pick up the wooden spoon. 
Notice your hunger. 
Scoop in the broth made from all that was discarded. 
Let yourself sip as you stir. 
Slowly, slowly, slowly make soup. 
Feed yourself first.