Hello World!

When So Much is Falling Apart is Poetry Relevant?

and

Jun 18, 2025

Is poetry an accessory like a purse or sunglasses? A luxury for times of peace? When war looms, is poetry sensible for hard times, bleak times…when life grows unbearable? Is poetry only for when life is pleasant and gratitude comes easy? These are questions I’m beginning to ask myself.

This is the reason I’m excited to introduce to you my dear friend and fellow poet

E R Skulmoski

. Her poetry speaks to the moment, disclosing the realities of life in verse without needing to make it digestible.

Hello Beautiful

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Hello Beautiful mind of mine, stale state of mind.
A murder of past selves bouncing off the placid water.

Hello fingertips of dreams submerging,
words sinking to the bottom, eaten by algae, hoarding all the light.

Hello Beautiful anxiety, sweating between mountains. 
No deer, no snow, no light in sight.

Hello Beautiful long pauses and the silence I carry, 
teaspoon by teaspoon to the compost I bury.
Hello worms and coffee grounds. Beautiful banana peels 
blackened by worry.

Hello Beautiful grass, starving, broken photosynthesis. 
Hello Beautiful corpses of cattails in the ditch.
Hello Beautiful, prime of life deforested by good intentions.

Hello Beautiful doubt I scatter on my lawn, for starlings to steal, 
and ants to cover. Hello habitual numbness,
here is my mind. I’ve been waiting for you to take over.

Hello Beautiful clock, crawling forward as I belly through 
the revolving glass doors of my resistance.

Hello Beautiful paranoia, spiraling in my eyes, 
longing to reach the bottom of my stares.

Hello Beautiful glass prison.
Hello repeating thoughts. Hello Beautiful 
jack hammering into my consciousness.

Hello Beautiful, but broken communication with God.

Thank you for reading In the elements! I hope this post and poem finds you well. If you’re reading this today, I imagine you (like me) hope to live in a world where poetry always matters. Poetry might be the only form of language that breaks through with a message of hope when nothing else can.

For more poetry by
E R Skulmoski
—subscribe to her publication…

Of A Circle Of Pain - E.R. Skulmoski

8.56MB ∙ PDF file

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Printable Poetry Chapbook

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Thank you for reading In the elements 🕊️

A guest post by

E R Skulmoski

E R Skulmoski was born in Vancouver and raised in Hong Kong. She currently lives with her family in the Interior of British Columbia where she writes poetry and short fiction.