Some poems are good medicine.
And some “good medicine poems” are
mindfulness poems.
Mindfulness poems invite us to bring our whole self to whatever moment we’re in, and truly live it. They encourage us to be more present, more attentive and compassionate, in the living of our days. They grant us a taste of being good enough, just as we are, in this world, just as it is.
These Poetry of Presence collections are books for the times we live in. They’re inspiring reads for lovers of beautiful, accessible poetry. They’re also valuable resources for literature teachers, spiritual directors, meditators, interfaith clergy, mindfulness trainers, social workers, counselors, poetry therapists, hospice and grief workers, and medical personnel.
Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems
Poetry of Presence is a collection of more than 150 mindfulness poems, mostly by contemporary or recent poets. These poems call us to the Here and Now, and help us to dwell there. The Here and Now is all that truly belongs to us, and as the poets say, it’s enough.
Anthologized poets include Yehuda Amichai • Margaret Atwood • Ellen Bass • Wendell Berry • Robert Bly • Billy Collins • Mahmoud Darwish • Thich Nhat Hanh • Joy Harjo • Tony Hoagland • Miroslav Holub • Marie Howe • Erica Jong • Kabir • Galway Kinnell • Ted Kooser • Howard Nemerov • Kathleen Norris • Mary Oliver • Rainer Maria Rilke • Rumi • May Sarton • William Stafford • David Wagoner • Alice Walker and many more.
Check out the companion guide by poet and teacher Gloria Heffernan here.
“I’ll keep this by my side to read one poem a day to return to a state of mindfulness, breathing language through the heart. If you choose one anthology, I say let it be this one for the amazement⎯for the voices that, surprisingly, will speak to what you want to find in yourself.”
Grace Cavalieri, host and producer,
“The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress”
Poetry of Presence II: More Mindfulness Poems
This follow-up volume to the immensely popular Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems contains nearly 140 poems, most by contemporary or recent poets. Many of the poems delve into relational or social mindfulness, helping you explore “the tough stuff” of living among others with presence. They invite you to face relational challenges without turning away from them. To deepen your awareness of them. To seek equanimity in the midst of them. To address them with compassion, hope, courage, and humility.
Anthologized poets include Ellen Bass • Wendell Berry • Lucille Clifton • Albert Garcia • Ross Gay • Amanda Gorman • Thich Nhat Hanh • Joy Harjo • Linda Hogan • Ted Kooser • Dorianne Laux • Li-Young Lee • Ada Limón • W. S. Merwin • Naomi Shihab Nye • Mary Oliver • Rainer Maria Rilke • Rumi • William Stafford • Joyce Sutphen • Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer • David Whyte • and many more.
NOW AVAILABLE: A companion guide by poet and teacher Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. Use the anthology to deepen your writing practice. Learn more here.
“These mindfulness poems help us wake up to the suffering of people who are different from us. That’s a long process—I’ll be waking up until the moment I die. But once we start to wake up, we enter the conversation on human rights. We want to tend those afflicted by the ways of this world. God was sneaky, giving us beautiful poetry to get us involved!”
—Sister Helen Prejean,
leading voice for death penalty abolition,
author of Dead Man Walking and River of Fire
Poetry of Presence I & II 