inspirationalpoetryfortheofficeworker

Inspirational Poetry for the Office Worker

“Poetry, like most art, is a way to deal with emotions and memories.”

Jay Ward

Whether you love your job or hate it, we all have times when getting through our nine to five workday is a lot harder than it is ordinarily.

Think POETRY. 

It has the potential to provide you with insightful advice, encourage you, and motivate you to succeed. Plus, it’s always a good time to honour the work we do — and did you know? World Poetry Day falls on 21 March.

It’s time to take a well-deserved break with these poems!

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Frost’s well-known poem of diverging paths and choice teaches us about the patience of consideration, and most importantly — that we don’t always have to follow the crowd.

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

‘I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.’

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Resonating with all of us who are Zoom fatigued, this poem by Kenney contains all the buzzwords that we hear so often over Zoom calls and in offices.

“Shakespeare Never Used the Word ‘Ping’ and Neither Should You” by John Kenney

When you say

“ping me,”

I want to punch you.

It’s true.

“Bio break,” too.

It makes me cringe.

And, if I am being honest,

I don’t care about your ducks or the row they’re in.

I don’t know what “net-net” means

unless it’s being said by an excited tennis announcer.

Come to think of it,

let’s not circle back

or drill down

or take a deep dive

or take it offline

or level the playing field

or create action items.

And I really don’t care

if this won’t scale.

And may I add that,

going forward,

I would like to park this project.

And this job.

I quit.

Now.

Sorry.

I have a hard stop.

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“Out of Balance” by Leigh Fisher

How far can someone walk

while watching their body fall apart

before they starts to wonder

if they’ve gone too far?

This piece is about work-life balance, particularly about overdoing it to the point where our personal health suffers. Something’s got to change if we are doing it too often!

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Tips for Adding Poetry to the Work Day

• Include your favourite verse in your email signature,

• Save a poem on your desktop screensaver,

• Jot down an inspiring poem on your notebook,

• Pick up a poetry book, reading a couple of pages during lunch break could help inspire you. A good one to read is How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, featuring poems from inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, Ross Gay, Tracy K. Smith and more.

Take time to stop and smell the roses. Hope you are keeping safe and well!

-Suremark Singapore