Ode

I opened the July Poetry Party with this poem yesterday, then we wrote under the influence of it. Maybe you have been wondering about the Poetry Party, maybe you have considered joining? That’s a great idea!

One poet-friend said the Poetry Party was “magic as always. New poems made. New skills learned.” I will share a blog this week with all the poems and prompts (for paid members) but for now, here is a little flavour of last night.

Writing Under the Influence
a prompt for the poetry of this moment

To begin, come to your notebook and respond to this question:
What is the enchantment of this moment right here, right now?

Make some notes to yourself. Write what’s real. Include the act of surrender or what evokes softness. Include colour, a body part, and add a question. Now, write down:

• 5 things you can see

• 4 things you can touch

• 3 things you can hear

• 2 things you can smell

• 1 thing you can taste

Edit
move what you’ve written into the next draft

Take a new page in your notebook and edit what you have gathered. Allow yourself to intuitively rearrange the elements and place them in the form of (13 or) 14 lines— an ode to this moment. Here is what I wrote (in 5 minutes) yesterday:

The smell of night

a blend of sage, sweet pea and shadows
on a grey curtain veil—

The last of the light leaving
rainbows on the wall

watercolour marks
on petals. Pen and paper

in my palm. Birdsong.
The dove in the nest, still

to taste wind, wing, warm
air. My children watch
in hope of that

first flight.

—Heather Mackay Young, 26th July 2025

This exercise is less about making a ‘good’ poem and more about being present to the poem you are living, in this moment. If you want to feel more grounded during Mercury Retrograde, try this.