Upon Learning That

poems after Alex Dawson

There’s a poet I love on Instagram—her name is Alex Dawson—and she shares lovely nature-inspired poetry, paired with her incredible photography.

Alex recently kickstarted a poetry series titled “Upon Learning That,” which has truly sparked my creativity. The instructions for the project are simple: find a fact, write a poem about it.

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun I’ve had writing these and how quickly they’ve become some of my favorite poems I’ve written. This series has challenged me to write shorter poems and it’s really made me choose my words carefully.

I decided I wanted all of my poems to be somewhat autumn-themed, hence why all the facts I chose are tied to the season in one way or another. If you happen to read all three, I’d love to know which one’s your favorite in the comment section!

Happy Reading 🍁

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1. Upon Learning That Oak Trees Can Live Up to Over 1,000 Years

2. Upon Learning that Autumn is the Best Time of Year to Plant Perennials

3. Upon Learning that the Term “Fall” Likely Comes From the Phrase, “the fall of the leaves,” and that Because Poets Liked this Phrase, People Shortened it to “Fall” in the 1600s

Some literary news…

• I recently reached 200 subscribers (wow, what an honor!) and to celebrate I’d like to give away one of my poetry prints with a poem (of mine) of your choosing. You don’t need to “do” anything to enter—just send me message or drop a comment below.

• Two of my poems were recently accepted for publication by Heart of Flesh for their upcoming online + print issue. Wohooo!

• My poem September 15th has been accepted by Ekstasis for publication. This is one of my favorite faith-based journals and I am beyond excited this special poem found a home there!