A LIVING ARCHIVE OF POEMS
Celebrating 20 Years of Poetry
Read A Little Poetry began as a personal commonplace book in 2005. Today, it has become a living archive and beloved home for poetry lovers, readers, educators, and seekers of language that holds us. Join us in celebrating two decades of gathering poems that have carried us through. Thank you for being part of this journey.
Center of the Universe by Hannah Emerson
Center of the Universe
Hannah EmersonPlease try to go
to hell frequently
because you will
find the light thereyes yes — please
try to kiss the ideas
that you find there
yes yes — pleasetry to get that
it is the center
of the universe
yes yes — pleasetry to help yourself
by kissing the hot hot
hot life that is born
there yes yes — pleasetry to yell in hell
yes yes — please
try to free yourself
by pouring yourselfinto the gutter all
guttural guttural yell
yes yes yes — please
try to get that youbecome the being
that you came there
to be yes yes — please
try to go to the greatgreat great fire that you
created because you
become the light
that the fire makesinside of you
yes yes — please
try to kiss yourself
for going thereyes yes — please
get that you are
reborn there
yes yes — pleasebegin your day
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in The Kissing of Kissing (Multiverse) by Hannah Emerson, published by Milkweed Editions, 2015. (Available direct from Milkweed Editions • Also on: Amazon • Bookshop)
DESCRIPTION
“In this remarkable debut, which marks the beginning of Multiverse—a literary series written and curated by the neurodivergent—Hannah Emerson’s poems keep, dream, bring, please, grownd, sing, kiss, and listen. They move with and within the beautiful nothing (“of buzzing light”) from which, as she elaborates, everything jumps.
In language that is both bracingly new and embracingly intimate, Emerson invites us to “dive down to the beautiful muck that helps you get that the world was made from the garbage at the bottom of the universe that was boiling over with joy that wanted to become you you you yes yes yes.” These poems are encounters—animal, vegetal, elemental—that form the markings of an irresistible future. And The Kissing of Kissing makes joyously clear how this future, which can sometimes seem light-years away, is actually as close, as near, as each immersive now. It finds breath in the woods and the words and the worlds we share, together “becoming burst becoming / the waking dream.”
With this book, Emerson, a nonspeaking autistic poet, generously invites you, the reader, to meet yourself anew, again, “to bring your beautiful nothing” into the light.” (Source)
ABOUT HANNAH EMERSON
Hannah Emerson is the author of The Kissing of Kissing (Milkweed Editions, 2022), in which “Peripheral” appears, and the author of the chapbook You Are Helping This Great Universe Explode (Unrestricted Editions, 2020). (Source)
Read more poems by Hannah Emerson • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Follow on Instagram • Website • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: hell • light • freedom • Or browse the index
- If this work resonates with you, please consider supporting the archive. Thank you for reading.
ON THIS DAY
EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE
Poems for the moment & for always
Over the years, this space has grown into an ever-expanding archive of words that comfort, challenge, and inspire. Whether you are seeking solace, rediscovering an old favorite, or finding new voices to love, start here.
THE JOURNEY
A Love Letter to Our Readers
I started Read A Little Poetry when I was 19, posting poems late at night from my bedroom. I didn’t know then that I was building a home—just that I needed one. I’ve been tending to this archive quietly for twenty years, out of love, out of need, out of belief in the life-saving power of poetry. What a miracle that you’ve found your way here.
Poetry is how I mark time. This site is how I remember I’ve lived.
SELECTED BY OUR GUEST CURATORS
Poems We Carry
To mark our 20th year milestone, we invited beloved poets to share a poem they carry with them—one that changed them, stayed with them, or saved them. Their reflections are tender, surprising, luminous.
A LEGACY OF POETRY
This is Our Story
Read A Little Poetry began as an anonymous blog over two decades ago. But over time, it’s become something more—a companion to grief and joy, a resource in classrooms, a place to begin again. Below are stories from those who’ve walked with poetry, and with me, through the years.
Letters from our readers
Reflections from those who found a poem here when they needed one most
Share your
story
Have you carried a poem from this site into your life? I’d love to hear about it.
HELP US KEEP GOING
A space for
poems & for you
For twenty years, Read A Little Poetry has remained free and ad-free—a living archive built from the ground up with love, time, and care. My goal is to support independent poetry: to make space for it, to keep it visible, to let it be found.
This space exists because of you. Whether you found it during a lonely morning, a deep heartbreak, or a restless night—whether you’ve sent a poem to a friend, printed one for your class, or returned here just to feel something—your presence matters.
To everyone who has supported this archive through donations or ongoing subscriptions: thank you. You’ve helped keep the lights on.
Your generosity sustains not only this site, but the belief that poetry deserves to be findable, shared, and remembered.
Holding poets to the light
Read A Little Poetry wouldn’t be what it is today without you.
Thank you for your love of poetry and for being here.
