Influencers

Photo by Ian Baldwin on Unsplash

Influencers

I’d rather be influenced by

ripe peaches sliced on a plate,

tasting sweet but almost floral

like petals crushed in the mouth,

and juice the color of sunset running

down my chin. And painted turtles

I pick up from the middle of the road

then place in sandy soil on the other side

where they can lay their eggs in peace.

If something’s going to steal my attention,

let it be the sweat that makes my husband’s

favorite T-shirt stick to his chest, arms 

so caked with dirt from working all day 

in the garden, I say to him: You’re actually

becoming the earth.

For those of us who use social media, or any other online platform, the endless vying for our time, money, and attention can become frustrating as it only adds to the outer noise that easily disrupts the flow of our own thoughts. We can take small steps, like keeping our phones in another room when we sleep, or placing them on airplane mode when we want to be fully alone. We can refuse to allow any notifications and limit our time scrolling through the barrage of news and photos from people we may not even know in real life. But the truth is, as technology advances, it becomes harder and harder to create a life free of such distraction, free of the pull of so-called “influencers.” This is why I fell in love with Patrick Ramsay’s poem, “I’d rather be influenced by,” a few years back when I first came across it. The poem simply and effectively gives its author—and all of us, by extension—permission to articulate the actual, physical, sensual things we wants to shape our daily life. Like any good poem, it also leads its readers to question and examine their own lives, and to take ownership of those specific “influencers” we can choose to invite into each moment. When we feel like others are stealing our focus, that’s perhaps the perfect time to sit down and write our own version of this poem, allowing the specificity to draw us more deeply into what brings delight and joy, what truly connects us to ourselves, and to each other. In my own poem, I couldn’t resist capturing the end-of-summer pleasures all around me—the ripe peaches that tasted somehow of flowers, the painted turtles I love to help across the busy road, my husband’s arms so caked with mud and dust, he seemed a part of the earth himself. Perhaps listing all the small, sensual pleasures present in our lives right now can allow us to more easily decide who and what should get our attention in the future.

Invitation for Writing & Reflection: Borrow the first line and title of Patrick Ramsay’s poem, “I’d rather be influenced by,” and see what specific details from daily life it brings to mind for you. Let this become a list poem of specific delights and appreciations that often are not apparent until we take the time to name them.