1. Poetry: Terra Vita by Lisa Hiton and Dispatch as Prologue or Epilogue by Megan Gannon on The Slowdown with Maggie Smith, The Quiet Shift by Anita Nahal and Forever Plastics by Ronald Carson and Aubade on Piazza del Popolo with Saxophonist and Chopin by Ashna Ali on poets.org, Telling the Bees and Seat 24C and Stalled by Julie Barton, Not That I Like It, But I Tell Myself and Still and Listening to Glen Velez in a Garden in Ohio and Sitting Beside the Cellist During Sound Check and Things I Learned from My Mother and A Small Lesson in Infinity by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, [empty ballfield] and Other Haiku by Greg Schwartz and Spin by C. Wade Bentley and Flower in a Field by Dario Cvencek on Rattle, The Time underneath Time: and what gives life by Pádraig Ó Tuama on Poetry Unbound, Open Anyway and More in Time by James Crews, Imperfection by Elizabeth Carlson on Heart Poems, and a few poems from Hannah Ro’s collection Same “to celebrate the women that mother us and the ones who mother with us.”

2. Good stuff from Elissa Altman on Poor Man’s Feast: on a love heavier than iron (“It’s Mother’s Day, and that’s all I have to say”) and a midweek roundup (“(Get Outside Already)”) and From the archives: Committing to the asparagus (“On Sustenance and Being Right Where You Are”).

3. On Bears: And invasive species by Jami Attenberg on Craft Talk.

4. The Gaslighting of the Majority (And the Truth About MAGA’s Death Spiral) on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz.

5. An action both slightly incriminating and entirely fitting. “There is a kind of intimacy that only time can create” by Patti Digh.

6. Toast Slices Undergo Edible Makeovers into Rock Gardens, Pantone Swatches, and Flower Beds on This is Colossal.

7. Is There Any Love in Fascism? “1984 is now” by Satya Robyn.

8. Grab Some Seeds. Throw Them at the Soil. You’re a Gardener Now. on The New York Times. (gift link) “Welcome to chaos gardening, a laid-back way to turn a patch of ground into a riot of color.”

9. Was It Worth It? “I didn’t think about those nachos even once. I had never experienced anything like it. Is this, I asked my friends, how it feels to be normal?”

10. Opposable Thumbs by Alan Michael Parker. “On Cartoons, Colors, Ferris Wheels, Father’s Day, Prince, Coming Out, the Internet, and Me.”

11. The Guadalupe Swept Us Away. This Is the Story of All That Came After. “In the days after last July’s historic disaster, I wrote about the tragedy that befell my family. But crawling out of the river was only the beginning.”

12. When My Father’s Canary Flew Away on The New York Times. (gift link) “In the final stages of his dementia, a long-lost memory from childhood returned, perfectly formed. What was going on in his brain?”

13. I Want to Live Like Costco People. “No matter who we are or where we’re from, at Costco, we’re more alike than we are different. There’s no such thing as the real America, but if there were, you’d find it here. And you’ll find me here, too, for I have become the Costco person I was always destined to be, preordained by geography and epigenetics, nature and nurture. Yes, I’d like a box to take my groceries to the car. I’m pretty sure all this stuff will fit.”

14. Merriam-Webster Slang Dictionary. “Slang & Trending: Words We’re Watching.”

15. Why You Should Read ‘Yesteryear’ Now on The New York Times. (gift link) “Caro Claire Burke critiques America and asks who, and what, is redeemable?”

16. Retirees Expect Their Home to Be a Financial Safety Net. They Shouldn’t. on The New York Times. (gift link) “Older homeowners often can’t afford to maintain their houses or don’t understand the value in updating them. And that can mean thousands lost when they sell.”

17. ‘Almost life-saving’, Moby on the healing power of sound. “In the optimistic 1990s, electronic pioneer Moby made music that became the soundtrack to a generation’s youth. Three decades on, in a more anxious and unsettled age, his latest album explains how sound brings him calm after a lifelong battle with anxiety.”

18. Feeling anxious? Then try going for a walk in the woods. “Walking around woodland trails cuts anxiety, reduces rumination and boost social connection, new research shows.” Maybe it’s just me, but this seems like doing research to discover that water is wet.

19. Object-ives #34: My Mother’s Photographs on Open Secrets Magazine. “Why I’ve held on to photos of a woman who was cruel to me as a child.”

20. Birds, Buds, Blossoms, Beauty!, “poems and prompts to celebrate the spirit of May” from Alix on Earth & Verse.

21. Near Philadelphia’s New Green Spaces, a Dramatic Reduction in Crime. “With thousands of vacant lots now beautified, the city is showing that targeting places instead of people can work wonders.”

22. Behind every door. “Every person you pass is carrying a reality you cannot see” by Jasmine on The Tiny Joy Project.

23. Why So Sensitive? “Prima donnas, drama queens, delicate souls, and other artists” by Danny Gregory.

24. The Woman Who Got Out. “Trading a too-squared life for a little bit of grit” by Amanda Sandlin.

25. All the right moves! 17 personal trainers on the exercise they always recommend – from planks to face pulls on The Guardian. “Whether you are starting from scratch, or have a well-honed routine, moving can help us feel happier and healthier. Experts share their one essential exercise and how to get the most out of it.”

26. After Seeing “Holding Liat”: Love and grief all over again by Jena Schwartz.

27. Climbing Higher by Lina Lau on Short Reads. “Learning to trust.”

28. I’m 38 and I love my parents and I also resent them. “I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to decide which feeling is the real one — and last month I finally accepted that they’re both real, they’ve always both been real, and the exhausting part of being their son is only performing the half they can handle.”

29. 2026 Pulitzer Prize Winners, list with links.

30. 5 Tips for Mindful Journaling on Lion’s Roar. “James C. Hopkins on how—through writing—you can find the flow of awareness, free of judgment.”

Special Personal Request: Kind and gentle reader, my dear friend Chloe’s sister, Aimee Brookens, DO, is raising funds to help pay six months of rent and cover the renovation costs of opening a medical clinic. “Unity Health Center will prioritize caring for the uninsured, underinsured, and those utilizing Medicaid while emphasizing equitable and responsible care for minority groups and all historically underserved populations including BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, Hispanic or Latinx. By creating a welcoming environment and building a trusting relationship between the medical team and patient, Unity Health Center will create a medical home that fosters healing and growth in the Greater Lansing [Michigan] community.” ANY amount you can give to help would be greatly appreciated, tax deductible, and donations can be made online at Unity Health Center. Thank you!

1. Poetry: Learning the Soft Way by James Crews, and in related James Crews news Episode 163 of Emerging Form podcast: James Crews on the Radical Act of Rest, On My History of Kissing Everyone At Parties by Isabelle Correa on The Slowdown with Maggie Smith, Twenty Seven Haikulings from Costa Rica and Nicaragua and Maximum Strength and When I Feel I Do Not Belong and Waking to Twenty-Two Degrees on April 24 and I left the ocean and Letter to an Unnamed Star by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Wage Love by Moudi Sbeity on Heart Poems, Cynthia Wanders My Neighborhood by Thomas Centolella and In the not-not-woods by Malia Maxwell and Love Poem to Taco Bell by Rebecca Bornstein on Poets.org, Bravery Is Your Companion by Julie Barton, Become Unusable by Frederick Joseph, The Kraken by Dante Di Stefano and My Father’s Painting by Bryan Walpert and Sleepless City of Rising Light by Matt Joseph on Rattle, A question that’s guided me for 30 years by Pádraig Ó Tuama on Poetry Unbound, What the Doctor Said by Raymond Carver shared by Patti Digh, Poet Ada Limón Has a Trick for Public Speaking (“Plus, her entertaining strategy, favorite lip gloss, and a beautiful way to think about death”), Initiate yourself into the world of magical things, “Do not wait to be invited {3 poems from Hermit Season}” on Earth & Verse, and this from Kristin Noelle‘s recent newsletter:

“This is a blessing for the ones who feel sad

For the ones whose limbs feel heavy
and hearts feel weighed down.

For the ones who can’t quite name the cause,
or there’s too many causes to name.

If you’d like, you could start here:

One long, slow breath.
One long, slow exhale.
One hand on your heavy heart.

‘Dear heart,’ you could say.
‘Dear heavy heart.’

And after a few more breaths,
you might move that hand to cup your cheek
and with a grandmother’s tender love,
you might hold your hand there.

‘Precious one,’ your hand could say.
And, ‘Yes, love,’
Which is to say Yes,
you are feeling all of this.
You are holding all of this.
This is all so heavy now.

Maybe there’s nothing else to do just now.

Maybe there’s no where else to be.

Maybe sadness can be here,
and like the green that emerges silently
from barren branches in spring—
green that at first is not green,
but scraggly nubs of no-green—
like that green, maybe not-sadness will arrive in time
and offer you new gifts
beyond the ones that sadness brings.

There is so much life pulsing beneath the surface of you.
Swirling in the spaces around you and between you
and all that is.
The impulse to shift
to grow
to mutate
to break apart
to come together
to fall down
and rise up
to change seasons
to push out blossoms that look and smell sweet.
Sadness can’t stop any of this.

So maybe it’s okay that it’s here.

‘Precious one,’ I say to you with your sadness.
And: ‘Yes, love.'”

Also, in related poetry news, a new podcast, The Poetry Hotline. “The plan will be to have a biweekly podcast where I invite my poet friends to read a poem aloud, to talk briefly about their piece and maybe answer a couple of questions. Then, I will give a little pep talk at the end.” Or, the short version: “A biweekly poetry newsletter, pep talk and podcast. Poetry as a life preserver.”

2. This actually is my first rodeo (“Why being new at life is not the same as failing at it”) by Jasmine on The Tiny Joy Project. 

3. What to Do When the Signs Stop. (“How I learned to talk to Andrea again”) by Megan Falley.

4. Accidental art therapy by Jenny Lawson.

5. Life is a Potluck, (“sometimes all you have to offer are scanned notebook scribbles”) by Brad Montague on The Enthusiast.

6. Good stuff from The Awkward Yeti: Courage Building and Mondays.

7. Good stuff from Open Secrets: So It Goes (“Could getting rid of my estranged family’s gifts heal me?”) and I’m Italian? (“How a DNA test, not mine, changed my life”).

8. A Missed Goodbye, or Perhaps Not by Swasti Bhattacharyya. “Life continues. There is no need for goodbyes.”

9. Good stuff from Jamie Attenberg on Craft Talk: About a Tree (“I see it every day”) and When Changing Tense Makes You Tense (“The right but annoying move”).

10. Rehabilitating the Active Imagination: Samantha Harvey on How to Be a Reader in the Age of Fractured Attention on The Marginalian.

11. Reclaiming Our Hijacked Attention from Kaira Jewel’s April 2026 Newsletter.

12. I Missed the Fox, “And I think it means something” on The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad.

13. No Crumb. “A list post including dreams, food, books, the garden, and more” by Erin Geesaman Rabke.

14. For Americans Who Feel Lost in America on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz.

15. The Case for “Strategic Laziness,” According to Artists and Athletes. “Rest and creativity go hand in hand. As these pros explain, downtime improves performance, focus and long-term success.”

16. This Is a Gardening Show review – Zach Galifianakis’ charming new series feels like perfect TV on The Guardian. “Part lesson, part lark, these 15-minute episodes are a total joy. They have such a deliriously light touch they will make you want to run outside and plunge your hands into the soil.”

17. The Best Literary Fiction of April.

18. Nobody talks about why most of the people who actually change their lives didn’t follow a system, didn’t read a book, and didn’t set goals, they just finally admitted something to themselves and everything downstream of it slowly reorganized. “The warehouse shift that shattered my color-coded self-help journals taught me what thousands of productivity gurus couldn’t: real transformation happens when you’re too exhausted to maintain the lie anymore.”

19. Repetition, Repair, and Restoring the Broken Chain, “A prompt from my daughter” by Jena Schwartz.

20. Imagining Her Back to Herself, “She was more than the way she was found” by Patti Digh.

21. Live Simply: 10 Lessons for a Lighter Life by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

22. Of Teachers and Cheaters, Rules and Tools. “Great artists steal, right?” by Danny Gregory.

23. Tick-Tock, Mister Wick from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds on his 50th birthday.

24. In times of destruction, create something: things to make by Isabel Abbott.

25. My family tried to eat fewer ultra-processed foods for five years. Here’s what we learned on The Guardian. “Cutting UPFs from our grocery list was expensive, laborious and time-consuming.”

26. 4 Things That Are Not Your Responsibility — Even If Your Anxiety Says They Are. “Consider this your permission slip to let go of the pressure.”

27. What to Do If You Hate Your Job—but Can’t ‘Just Quit’.

28. Why rest alone doesn’t restore energy.

29. And finally, I love this idea from Austin Kleon.