How It Works

1. Read the poem 

2. Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you

3. Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…

4. Use the selection of prompts below

5. Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…

6. Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes

Guardian Angel

I am the bird that flutters against your window in the
morning,
and your closest friend, whom you can never know,
blossoms that light up for the blind.

I am the glacier shining over the woods, so pale,
and heavy voices from the Cathedral Tower.
The thought that suddenly hits you in the middle of the day
and makes you feel so fantastically happy.

I am the one you have loved for many years.
I walk beside you all day and look intently at you
and put my mouth against your heart
though you're not aware of it.

I am your third arm, and your second
shadow, the white one,
whom you cannot accept,
and who can never forget you.

—Ralph Jacobsen
Translated by Robert Bly

If you wish to attend the read around (t’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional). Note: If you registered already, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email. Register Here:

The next Read-Around is 10/1/26 at
5:00 PM PDT — 8:00 PM EDT

My Thoughts

We've all had those moments of grace, when we were spared the worst or granted the happy accident that opens the door to our dreams. It may be a red light runner that hits the car behind as we drive on safely or the way we weave the crowds with perfect timing to arrive at the proper gate just in time to board our next flight.  It is natural, in those moments, to feel we were guided by an invisible presence: a guardian angel. Then there are the lucky, or perhaps deluded, ones, like me and perhaps you, who sense a presence always with us. We are never really alone. Deep down we know there is another with us, even when we feel lonely; even when we are lost to our ourselves or flushed out into the world frightened and confused, For me, this “Other “ is the Presence within which my (small self) presence rests. It shows up in all the many ways the greater part of ourself takes care of us: from heartbeat and breath, to digestion, to coordinated movement, and directed behavior, all happening on a level beyond our conscious mind. Yet, the Presence is also embedded in life, attuned to the moment, with an awareness well beyond our slender view of reality. It is truly our guardian angel, watching out for us, helping us, holding us, and guiding us; that is if we learn to listen and follow.

Prompt Ideas

1. Journal or write a poem titled Guardian Angel and write about whatever this brings to mind for you.

2. Jacobsen’s poem speaks in the voice of the Guardian Angel with series of declarative “I Am…” statements. Use this format in writing you own poem.

3. In what way does the world come knocking at your window, like Jacobsen’s bird, as if it is an angel speaking to you?

4. Jacobsen's guardian angel is depicted as his closest friend that he may never know.; and later as someone he loves but cannot accept.. Write a journal about your relationship to your greater self, or your greater self's relationship to you.

5. Jacobsen describes light in the woods, or voices from a cathedral, or sudden happy thoughts as messages fro his Guardian Angel. How does your guardian angel communicate with you?

6. As usual, write about whatever else inspires you form the poem or from life.