Weirdo Poetry Substack Newsletter

I send letters Monday through Thursday about living the artist’s life, using creativity to heal, and increasing the amount of wonder and awe we experience. Each issue includes a haiku comic and a short essay. Sometimes I send out a graphic essay. On Tuesdays and Thursdays paying subscribers get exclusive essays and pictures of my working notebooks.

Here are a few of my most popular posts and comics from the newsletter.

“I saw the scrap of paper underneath a shopping cart. I went and picked it up, not because I’m conscientious about litter (although I deeply desire to be) but because I’m nosy.

It was a glorious grocery list.

The first thing I noticed was the word cigarettes written in cursive juxtaposed with the careful printing of the rest of the list. The more I read over the list, the more it felt like a poem. I especially love the rhythm and alliteration of pickles and twelve-pack pop.” Read the full post here.

“Looking through some old files on my computer I found a few long-forgotten project starts. One was called, Becoming Indomitable.

Becoming Indomitable was a list of over 100 things you can do to build resilience that were more concrete than insipid advice like, “Look for silver linings” or “Try and think positive thoughts”.

I wrote the list back in 2019 during my battle with kidney cancer with the thought of making a series of essays focusing on things like crying, laughing, and screaming in your car.” Read the full post here.

“I recently had an epiphany about TikTok. I love scrolling on that app. There are so many interesting academics, intellectuals, artists, musicians, and creatives sharing their knowledge and insights about their fields of expertise and their daily lives.

I was watching a video from someone I do not know talk about layoffs at a company I have never heard of and I paused to ask myself why I was so interested in this video. That’s when it clicked. TikTok is addictive and successful because it weaponizes gossip.

Ever since I first read the work of Joseph Campbell as a teenager I have held the core belief that humans are hardwired for story.” Read the full post here.

“I don’t know if it’s my Gen X punk rock roots, my experience growing up with parents afraid of creativity, or some combination of both, but I’m allergic to pretension. I used to make a great sport of skewering hypocrites and the self-important.

Now, I’m much older, and if not wiser, at least more aware of my own hypocrisy. I have a bit more empathy for anyone trying to do something in public.

If I take Rubin’s quote to heart, it’s calling to live the life of the artist full time. There is a risk in moving through the world as an artist. Immediately you are disconnected from the “normal” ways the world works.” Read the full post here.

Here is a selection of haiku comics from the newsletter:

All the images are clickable if you want to see the comics in their original newsletter posts.

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