From the Quiet Verse – Issue #1
Date: January 3, 2025
Title: Happy New Year
This Year, We Begin Softly
“Even winter has its own way of beginning.”
Hello Dear Reader,
We begin this year not with noise, but with breath. Not with declarations, but with direction. And perhaps not with plans, but with presence.
This is the first letter from From the Quiet Verse — a space where poetry, stillness, and emotional honesty are invited to sit with us like a cup of warm tea. I’ll write you twice a month, sometimes with a poem, sometimes with a story, always with an open hand.
For today, I’d like to begin with a short reflection — not a resolution. Just a moment of noticing.
each falter, each pause—
gentle markers
on the path that shaped me.
In the clamour of falling,
I learned to listen.
In the quiet of the plummet,
I reached and held the line.
(from Lessons Learned for a New Year)
As we enter this new year:
- What are you not rushing into?
- What deserves to arrive slowly, with care?
Write it in a journal. Whisper it into the wind. Or reply to this email if you'd like to share it with me.
If you'd like more of this kind of presence, you can visit my webpage at https://www.bertthebardpublishing.com/herb-hagell/.
I hope the first few days of this year are not pressured to bloom, but are trusted to root.
Warmly,
Herb
Poet of From the Quiet Verse
