From a very young age, Jacqueline Suskin felt called to the path of poetry. Her most recent book is Every Day is a Poem (Sounds True, 2020), and she is the author of six other books including The Collected, Go Ahead & Like It, The Edge of The Continent Volume One, The Edge of The Continent Volume Two, Help in the Dark Season, and The Edge of The Continent Volume Three.

With her project Poem Store, Suskin has composed over 40,000 improvisational poems for people who chose a topic in exchange for a unique verse. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, and other publications. She is also featured on the cover of the November-December 2020 issue of Spirituality & Health.

Poetry is having a huge renaissance. Suskin credits this partly due to shorter attention spans among the reading public, but also a desire to reach the heart of the matter, to connect more quickly with that which is vital. Poetry is an accessible tool for people, she notes, that can help us “sift through the chaos and enjoy being alive.”

It is the combination of micro and macro content that makes poetry so special, Suskin says. She and Rabbi Rami also talk about how poetry is similar to prayer, and how it can translate suffering into something meaningful.

Listen to the whole podcast to hear this beautiful conversation.

For more on Suskin’s poetry, teaching and other work, visit her website.

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