April is National Poetry Month — and to celebrate, Bonny, Kat, Sarah, and I are sharing some poetry each Thursday in April. This week, we’ll each be sharing a poem about . . . love.

I actually struggled this week . . . to choose a poem to share. I mean, “love” is a really broad topic! Romantic love. Platonic love. Parental love. Love of nature. Humorous love poems. Sad love poems. Poignant love poems. In the end, I finally decided on a poem about . . . loving ourSELVES.

The Most Important Thing
by Julia Fehrenbacher

I am making a home inside myself. A shelter
of kindness where everything
is forgiven, everything allowed — a quiet patch
of sunlight to stretch out without hurry,
where all that has been banished and buried
is welcomed, spoken, listened to — released.

A fiercely friendly place I can claim as my very own.

I am throwing arms open
to the whole of myself — especially the fearful,
fault-finding, falling apart, unfinished parts, knowing
every seed and weed, every drop
of rain, has made the soil richer.

I will light a candle, pour a hot cup of tea, gather
around the warmth of my own blazing fire. I will howl
if I want to, knowing this flame can burn through
any perceived problem, any prescribed perfectionism,
any lying limitation, every heavy thing.

I am making a home inside myself
where grace blooms in grand and glorious
abundance, a shelter of kindness that grows
all the truest things.

I whisper hallelujah to the friendly
sky. Watch now as I burst into blossom.

Happy National Poetry Month. I hope you’re enjoying our month-long celebration of poetry.

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Today’s poem is included in the anthology The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy, edited by James Crews, and published by Storey Publishing, 2022. For more information about today’s poet, Julia Fehrenbacher, click here.

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Then be sure to visit Bonny, Kat, and Sarah to read more poetry about love!