Do you have a poet in your pocket?

Apparently John Adams wrote this in a letter to his son John Quincy Adams: “You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket.”

While I wouldn’t advocate literally trying to put a poet in your pocket, I do like the sentiment. Which poet would you be most likely to have in your pocket? The answer varies for me depending on the day, but if I had to only choose ONE poet, it would probably have to be Robert Frost. He’s got quite a range, and there are some I still haven’t read. Here is one of his delightful gems.

Dust of Snow

By Robert Frost

The way a crow

Shook down on me

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

In contrast to that, here is a link to one of a rather different sort.

https://poets.org/poem/browns-descent-or-willy-nilly-slide

If you’ve never read it, you should definitely check it out!