What’s in Your Pocket . . . a Poem by Chance?

Poetry intrigues me, yet it’s a literary genre I rarely seek. It seems the times in my life when I’ve most appreciated the art form have been when it has found me. That was the case one April day five years ago when I wandered into a local bookstore, sadly no longer in business, and stumbled upon Poem In Your Pocket Day for the first time.

A woman greeted me with a smile and a question. “Do you have a poem in your pocket?”

“Uh, no,” I replied, not entirely sure I heard her correctly. I’d visited the store several times over the last couple of years, and the staff was always friendly but I hadn’t remembered them being particularly inquisitive about what I had in my pockets.

She handed me a flimsy white bookmark with a poem printed on the front and underneath was: Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day. It was then I noticed a few people gathered in the center of the store for what looked like a poetry reading.

She smiled and said, “Now you have a poem for your pocket.”

“Great! Thank you,” I replied, with the enthusiasm I assumed she was looking for. “So, I just put it in my pocket?” I asked, still trying to understand what this was all about.

“Yes, and you may want to share it with someone today.” Then she lowered her voice. “But even if you don’t, you’ll get a 15% discount on any purchase, today only, if you have a poem in your pocket.”

I wanted to ask her if this was really a thing, or if they had just made it up as a crazy little take of couponing, but she was already turning to greet the next customer. So, thankful I was wearing jeans, I stuffed the poem/bookmark into my back pocket and to be polite moved toward the poetry group. A teenage girl had just finished her poem and another woman was coming forward to begin a new reading.

She announced that the poem was titled: What the Living Do. Slowly I circled around the group, intending to slip down an isle once I was out of her line of sight. But as she began reading I was drawn in by the tranquil rhythm. My heart was still; calmer than it had been in months. I later learned the poet, Marie Howe, wrote this poem to her younger brother after he died. I was frozen in place listening to her story of imperfect lives and relationships, of loss and of eventually living beyond it all.

As the narrator whispered the last line – I am living. I remember you. – moisture seeped from my eyes. Her words seemed to find the place I had been hiding my grief. You see, my younger sister had died a few months before. While I felt I was coping pretty well with the loss, there was still that fog; still so many times when I reached for the phone to call her only to realize all over again that she was gone. And I had not yet begun to put our complicated relationship in perspective. I bought Marie Howe’s book because this poem, on that particular day, spoke to me. Maybe it was Marie’s sideways take on life, or possibly the poignant delivery of the narrator; but for whatever the reason I will always remember it as therapeutic.

Fast forward five years and I saw a tweet about April being National Poetry Month, which in turn made me think about Poem In Your Pocket Day. I searched my office to find the now dusty book of poetry by Marie Howe. Other than the day I bought it, I don’t think I’ve opened the book. As much as I wish my intellect thirsted for poetry in its classic form, the truth is my favorite poets sport a guitar – I’m sure you’ve heard of them: Springsteen and Dylan.

I flipped through the pages searching for the poem that had struck me so deeply that day in the bookstore. As I reread it, I felt none of the intense emotion I remembered experiencing the first time I heard it in 2012. I guess I wasn’t totally surprised. It must have been the readiness of my sorrow to be exposed that day; in that moment my heart had clearly connected with the poet’s own emotions and vivid imagery. Her poem had found me at exactly the right time.

Tucked inside the front cover was the handmade bookmark the woman in the quaint little bookstore that I can’t even remember the name of anymore, had given me. I don’t think I ever looked at the poem printed on the bookmark until now. As I read it, it made me smile. I’m sure I would have appreciated the sentiment five years ago; it’s a timeless message after all. But today it finds me in just the right place. In fact, I’m so immersed in my new Chapter 3 life which centers on connecting with those dearest, it couldn’t be more perfect!

And so, this poem is dedicated to you, my friends. (And yes, I’m pretty sure the only people reading this blog are my friends.)

Special True Friend
   – poem by Crystal A. Dedes

It has meant so much
Having you as a friend
You will always be a part of me
Until the end

When times are tough
You are always there
It has brightened my world
Just knowing you care

You make me feel the love
I have inside
You are a friend,
A mentor, a guide

Since we met
Our friendship has grown
While you’re in the world
I will never be alone

I feel blessed to have met
Some one like you
And to have found a friendship
So special and true

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, I tossed the book of poems in the giveaway box at McKay’s bookstore in hopes of giving Marie Howe’s poetry a chance to find someone else at just the right time.