What the Poets Know

 A letter from the threshold of language, writing, and becoming

I heard him say, “She was a poet. It was in her eyes, her voice, the way she moved. It was the way she engaged in the world.”
I knew what he meant. I’ve had a poet or two in my life. Only one wrote poetry.

When it comes to casting a spell with words—the way the poets do—we need more than the skill of rhythm and line. The words I automatically reach for need to be rearranged, loosened, even forgotten so new ones can emerge. It isn’t just the words. It’s the image.

If I were to ask the poets for advice—not about life, not yet, but about writing—they would not speak in outlines or steps. They would speak in glimmers, juxtapositions, strange returns...

Read the full essay on Substack →

“What the Poets Know” is part of a larger thread I’ve been following inside The Pattern Lab—a space where we trace meaning through language, story, and the thresholds that shape us.

If you’re drawn to patterns beneath the surface, to metaphors as maps, or to language as a living ecology—you’ll feel at home here.

👉 Learn more about The Pattern Lab →

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