3 Poems for Your Practice

I wanted to share a little handful of poems that I’ve pulled for recently. I hope you might want to do it, too, and if so, share what cards came up for you!

(but first, a quick reminder that the next Tarot Study Hall is this Sunday, June 7 at 7 PM CDT. )

Notes on Witches —Pip McGough

When I was small 
I believed witches lived alone.

Then I met one
in a kitchen full of relatives.

She was slicing bread
while the others argued.

Every time she laid a hand
on someone’s back
the argument slowed 

the way a river does
when it widens. 

I drew 3 of Cups, using the Yukika Tarot, which does feature one figure’s hand resting on the shoulder of another! I just loved that. It brought me a profound sense of relief, because ugh, I’ve felt so disconnected from anything ‘magical’ lately, and so this card for this poem: a balm.

Yes, That’s When - Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

I like my body when I’m in the woods
and I forget my body, I forget that arms
that legs, that nose. I forget that waist, 

that nerve, that skin. And I aspen. I mountain.
I river, I stone. I leaf. I path. I flower.
I like when I evergreen, current and berry. 

I like when I mushroom, avalanche, cliff. 
And everything is yes then, and everything 
new: wild iris, duff, waterfall, dew. 

For this one, I drew Page of Cups. I loved this for a variety of reasons: the sense of play and magic in this poem, of losing yourself in the language of nature. The emphasis on yes and new. But also Page of Cups is an elemental pair with Queen of Pentacles (both water + earth), and so intimacy with the body and with the natural world around them is crucial to both of these cards. It is church, it is home. This poem is a perfect expression of their relationship.

On Not Knowing - A. Olanow

I made a plan once 
so detailed 
it had no room 
for my actual life. 

I kept waiting to feel ready. 

There is a version of readiness 
that is just fear 
with better handwriting. 

The seed doesn’t know this.
It doesn’t know what it’s becoming.
It might grow sideways.
If that’s where the light is. 

For this one: 10 of Swords. Welp!

I hope you have fun with these in your own practice, and with the practice of pulling cards for poems generally. It’s really so much fun, and so insightful.

Also, wanted to let y’all know that I’m teaching at the Summer Solstice Summit hosted by the Tarot Diagnosis here soon. It’s the last weekend of June, and my presentation —on elemental pairs in the court— will be on Friday the 26th. Hope you can make it!