Poems for Your Pocket

Mark Paczkowski

It’s Poem in Your Pocket Day, and here are some EIL poems for your pocket. Really! You could type them out, write them out longhand, or copy and paste them, print them out, and then fold them up and tuck them in your pocket to pull out and hand to someone at an opportune moment, or leave somewhere visible for someone else to tuck in a pocket and carry around!

For instance, on your lunch break, you might leave “Lunch Break,” by Sarah Bridgins, on the lunchroom table. It starts out:

If you have never cried while listening
to “Time After Time,” in a deli while
waiting to buy a can of chili,
I don’t want to talk to you.

So you might hand it to someone while standing in line at the deli counter, as a conversation starter. The next stanza is:

I had that fantasy today where
the elderly woman standing in front
of me said I could go ahead of her
in line and when I refused, she held me.

So, instead, you might take it from your pocket and hand it to the elderly woman standing in front of you at the grocery store, should you find yourself in that situation! But expect a hug.

Or let’s say you are sitting in a coffee shop—perhaps “the Arabica Coffee Shop in Cleveland, Ohio, drinking cappuccino” and you want to talk to someone about orgasms. Well, you will need “The Last Time,” by Nin Andrews.

Yes, you have to be a little careful about how you distribute the poems in your pocket. Sometimes you might decide to leave them in your pocket.

Speaking of that, and “the last time,” and anticipating the misfortune of being without a pocket, I offer this stanza from “Maple Bars,” by Scott Poole, just in case you find yourself in a bakery, staring at the Maple Bars, or outside, unadorned:

When was the last time
I didn’t mind being
largely unclothed
outside, in the full
grip of nature?

And what about when you get home and you want a poem from your pocket for a spouse, partner, lover? What about “Husband” by Jessy Randall? Likewise, “Your Glow-in-the-Dark Heart” might come in handy at home, or if you are stuck in an elevator with someone, especially if the power goes out. Any of Jessy’s poems are a perfect pocket size!

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day!

Feel free to comment here about your own poem-in-your-pocket choices or experiences, or maybe post a mini-poem that we could tuck in our virtual pockets today!