Dear Mr. Amaker,
This poem gave me a new sense of peace that I haven’t had in a long time. My name is Avana, and I am a freshman from Milwaukee, WI, and I am a poet like you, or at least an aspiring one. Most of my poems are angry, they kind of silently shout at the world from the page, but yours is different. It hasn’t occurred to me lately that despite whatever I have going on in my life, my mental health is important, I need to give myself some flowers. I appreciate how you personified the Earth, it helped me fully understand the moral of the poem. The peace that I gained after reading your poem, and every time thereafter, was something that was laced in every stanza, and I greatly admire that.
What caught my eye was the first line, “And in the beginning,/ God gave your body/ a checklist,” I’m a PK (Pastor’s Kid), so I know a Bible reference when I see one, but what struck me was the checklist; growing up in a Christian household, mental health wasn’t emphasized, so the correlation between the Bible and mental health struck me. An opening line that is both calm and direct is something I appreciate about poetry in general. The steady flow of the suggestions makes me take in what you’re trying to say. Also the line, “Push forward without putting too much pressure on movement. Remember to return to water when your spirit and its frame are in drought,” really speaks to me as a young Black girl in America, with all the problems this country has, this line reminds me that it’s not my job to mend everything that has gone wrong, the best thing I can do is focus on becoming the best person I can be.
How do you think mental health plays a role in our world today? Through the thorough yet gentle way you remind us to take care of ourselves, I can somewhat tell that you think it is a universal truth to try to be okay with who you are. I hate how mental health and taking care of yourself are dismissed in our culture. When in actuality, people who have reached their fullest mental potential all working together could reverse some of the world’s biggest problems.
Taking deep breaths, taking some time alone, and remembering it’s okay to feel are things I have been telling myself for days now. However, my poetry doesn’t often reflect meaningful messages like that. For instance, your closing line, “Even when it seems like the clock isn’t ticking, you were made perfectly for this moment in time,” feels like a huge hug that tells me that everything will be okay. Thank you for that.
As an aspiring writer myself, I was wondering, where do you draw your inspiration from? It seems that everyone is coming up with everything now and there’s nothing left for me to create. But I know there’s something out there for me to write about, to write about, I just need to find a good place to start.
“Give Yourself Some Flowers” is a beautiful poem. You've made me realize that poetry is not just a way to express your emotions, but to give others some perspective that may help them along their way. You’ve reminded me that I am who I am, and it is good.
Sincerely,
Avana
