Announcing: Memory
Something new
Welcome to Poetry & Process. Over the past five months, this newsletter has offered a space for poetry to sink deeply into each of us. This has been done through an original Poem publication followed by the space of a few days for the reader to let the poem marinate, reflect on what they feel, and explore the themes that emerge in their mind. Then, only after that space, I have published a Reflection where I share the process of how the poem came to be and the themes that I wrote into it. This timing is intentional as one of my theories is “Poetry is alive”, simply meaning that poems show up differently to different people at different times. Well, today is a big day in the life of Poetry & Process. I am announcing additions for devoted readers that will offer a way to bring a new aliveness to life through poetry. Poem, Reflection, and now the third main tenet. Memory.
Some history
For those who are new to this space, my name is Brian Funke. I live in the Midwest of the United States, am a father and husband, love to practice yoga and meditation, enjoy a long ruck outside with my dog, consult full time on employee benefits strategy for large companies, and am a poet.
I began the Poetry & Process newsletter in May of 2023. At that time, I had been reading poetry for five years and writing my own for two, and was beginning to feel the need to have some of my writing live outside of my notebook and mind. Since then we’ve explored many themes, such as how we seek answers to big questions, relationships, and the color Blue (ok, it’s not really about the color blue, but there’s a reflection published on that topic you can read here). I have also shared insight into my writing process and what inspires my creativity in an effort to inspire others to take their own creative step.
While experiencing a poem once can be powerful, poetry offers wisdom by pulling you back to re-read the same poem, and maybe read it again, and again, the way gravity pulls a river to the ocean. In each read, it morphs and offers some new feeling, a revelation, poses a question that strikes you or perhaps provides a small step to something you have been seeking.
When poetry lives deep inside us, words rise alive to the surface of the mind unbidden as we walk through life. It can serve as a companion to our journey, a salve to our pain, and a mirror to our experience. Poetry can begin to permeate every facet of your life when you have a practice of committing poems to memory.
Beginning today, Poetry & Process relaunches with a new, paid offering, Memory.
Nothing is changing & Everything is changing
Everything you have experienced in Poetry & Process so far, including every new Poem and every new Reflection, will continue to be free for all readers. Those who choose to support this newsletter through a paid subscription will gain access to Memory, which is more than a newsletter. It will be a community for those that desire to live a life with poetry as a companion. Here is how we will practice Memory!
I will share a Memory newsletter for all subscribers every other Sunday that will contain one stanza from a poem that we will commit to memorizing together over the course of the week. These stanzas will come from a wide reach of poets, both ancient and modern with a poem or stanza from myself sprinkled into the mix periodically. Some weeks, the stanza will be an entire short poem, and other times we will memorize longer poems by stringing together stanza after stanza for a few weeks at a time. When the newsletter is published, I will simultaneously start a thread in the Chat feature of the Substack app/website for paid subscribers. There, over the course of the following weeks, the community will converse on the themes in each stanza, how we are committing it to memory, encourage others in their memorization, and share what the stanza is speaking to them.
Over the course of a year, you will have the opportunity to commit 25 stanzas to memory. While some will stick with you and some will fade, you will have 25 stanzas within you that can speak as you navigate your own unique road in life. Poems will become friends to bolster you, to offer you strength, and to wrap around you in comfort.
I hope you will consider joining this special community today! The first Memory newsletter and chat will begin Sunday, November 12.
Here is a summary of the new format of Poetry & Process, including additional details on what paid subscribers will receive!
Free and Paid subscribers will receive 2-3 Poem newsletters per month, which is the same cadence I am currently using.
Free and Paid subscribers will receive 2-3 Reflection newsletters per month, also the same cadence I am currently using.
Free and Paid subscribers will be able to converse in the comments of these posts, just like today.
New: Free and Paid subscribers will receive a weekly Memory newsletter every other Sunday. Paid subscribers will have access to the conversation and memorization support in the Chat feature.
Also New: Paid subscribers will gain access to a quarterly ZOOM Gathering where we will spend one hour reciting poetry to each other, face to face in the virtual world! I will share a reading and then it will be your turn to shine if you choose. This could be a poem you memorized in our community, one you read in another place, a poem you’ve always loved…whatever you want it to be. Hearing others speak poetry brings a new flavor to the experience, and this offering will be a truly special part of Poetry & Process. (The first Zoom Gathering will happen at a time To Be Determined.)
Archive: Free and Paid subscribers will have access to the full archive of newsletters.
Cost: There are two paid subscription options that will provide access to the full Poetry & Process community, monthly or annual. The subscription costs $6 per month / $50 per year (30% discount for annual).
For those that want to support my longer-term goal of publishing chapbooks and full volumes of poetry, you can join as a Poet’s Society subscriber for $100 per year. While I don’t know when the first print versions will be available, those who support at this level will receive a free version when they are published. I will also seek guidance on what Poems to include in Memory from Poet’s Society subscribers.
With gratitude
This is an exciting and strange moment for me. Poetry, art and literature is for everyone. Also, artists, authors and poets should be strongly compensated for the work they do without having to bring advertisements along for the ride. This new project is my attempt to keep my work accessible while adding an option for those who value the work to financially support the evolution of this publication, and also receive something life giving for their support!
Thank you to all who have read, thoughtfully commented on, and have been part of the Poetry & Process community! You each have my deep gratitude. I look forward to connecting with you in a deeper way, experiencing what happens in our lives when we adopt poetry as a close companion.
May you know peace.
Brian
If you are new to Poetry & Process, here is one of the community favorites. Enjoy!
Brian, that's so exciting! What a delicious space for community.
I recently found your writing and I love it, and it has already sparked the creativity in me on something I've been wanting to do and not actioning - sharing the process behind some of the poems and prose in a book I published last year (in draft, but a step closer). Thank you!
Hi Brian! I just found your newsletter and I’m glad to find a similar effort when writing poems and then reflecting on the process of writing them. In my newsletter Pluma Afilada, I also publish poems I write and then offer an essay to tell readers how it was to write those poems. But I hadn’t thought of sending first the poem and then, the essay as you do. It made me wonder Am I overwhelming my subscribers? Not giving them space to digest the poem? You have given me a lot of food for thought! Despite the system at Substack/Stripe doesn’t let me charge because I’m based in Colombia, southamerica, I’m observing how you are organizing your paid subscriptions. It’s very interesting what you suggest: have people memorize poems in a time when people don’t even know their own phone numbers because of electronic devices :D I will keep reading your poems and your reflections! Thanks for sharing!