When I'm not reading poetry, I am rarely writing poetry. I was reminded by an exercise in Dr. Caroline Leaf's The Perfect You to include the practice of reading poetry daily. This is a great exercise for everyone to practice, but essential for a poet. Not reading poetry for a poet is like skipping workouts for an athletic trainer.

So, I am feeling quite guilty at the moment because I have been reading more fiction and nonfiction, but not much poetry. I'm not writing much poetry either. I plan to remedy this situation by continuing my reading of Spoon River Anthology. I suspect it will go well with my reading of Lincoln in the Bardo. (More on all three of these books later in book reviews.)

What are you reading to inspire writing or simply life in general?