Each Verse a Star
(After Nikita Gill, who gave me the strength to be a poet)
Once you showed me
I was made of stardust,
the poetry poured out of me.
Words began pooling into galaxies,
each verse a star in the constellation of my story.
Your poems helped me unravel the passion
I’d been hiding within me
like a solar flare trapped in a bottle.
Through your words, I learned
to reach deep into the
depths of my darkness,
and it was there that I
sharpened my strength.
Your kindness forged
a storm in me, and all life
has been a poem since.
Wanted to start the year with this poem for a few reasons. One, because it’s written as a poetic response to my favorite poem of all time, 93 Percent Stardust by Nikita Gill, which she recently shared on her own newly launched Substack. (Which I HIGHLY recommend checking out.)
But I also wanted to share this new poem because it is exactly the kind of note I hope to begin this year one — one of creativity, one of hope, and as always, one of stars.
As I sat at my desk, trying to figure out how to wrap up 2023 before beginning the new year, every description fell short. Even as an author, sometimes you just can’t seem to find the right words to simply convey the intricacies of an experience. And that’s what last year was.
It was the experience of a lifetime.
I lost people I thought would be in my life forever, I saw things I would have never even bothered to dream of adding to a bucket list, and I learned self love more radical than my younger self would have ever dared believe possible. While I watched in horror as wars ravaged the world, my own body was in rebellion against me as I continued to struggle through the ups and downs of a chronic injury that refuses to heal. (And which for the fifth time this past December, landed me in the hospital for several days.)
While I only sold a handful of actual books, I spoke at my first festival, ran a writing workshop at my former high school, and hosted a number of poetry events in the city. From bone aching sadness to happy sobbing with laughter, 2023 really said, “Bitch, you’re gonna feel it ALL,” and honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
And now here I stand on the brink of what’s already promising to be another wild year. I have a few new publications coming (one of which I get to announce very soon and which may or may not be book shaped 👀) some other cool creative projects I’m hoping to get off the ground, and most imminently, a speaking engagement at… *pauses for effect* … the Philadelphia Barnes & Noble!(??!!??!!) I’d try to make resolutions or predictions but if the last few years have taught me anything, it is that the most magical stuff happens either entirely unplanned, or when you’re in the midst of truly loving the work.
So that’s my promise to myself this year. Keep writing things that excite me. Keep talking about media that brings me joy. Keep finding new ways to encourage other writers and creatives to chase the shit that makes their hearts soar. Keep journaling here and in my notebooks about this mad, beautiful, messy life.
Which, speaking of, brings me to one last something new I’d like to begin sharing as I end this first entry of the year — journal prompts.
Anyone who knows me is aware how important journaling has always been to me, especially in the last decade since I changed my name. Last year, I wrote here about an amazing journaling challenge I participated in through Suleika Jaouad’s Isolation Journals Substack. It was one of the highlights of 2023 for me, and as I just started doing her latest New Year’s challenge, I decided that I wanted to start sharing my own prompts, so that any of the few readers I might have here could use them for some introspection of their own.
Given the poem I started this post with, I felt it would be fitting to encourage folks to look to the writers they love most and see what musings they can conjure while ruminating on the words of people who’ve inspired them. I hope this prompt proves helpful in setting some intentions for your year ahead, and as always, thank you for being part of this journey.
✨ 💫 ✨
YOUR PROMPT
Using a poem or line of writing from one of your favorite authors as a starting point, journal your way through a response to said author. What would you say to them if you could? How have their words impacted your life for the better?
If you decide to write something with this prompt, leave it here in the comments or tag me in it on Instagram!
Featured Photo by Beat Schuler on Unsplash
Elayna Musings 