Spine Poetry is one of my favorite ways to create in the margins. I love sitting beside my bookshelf holding a warm cup of tea while reading the titles of the books on the shelf. When a title nudges me, I pull it off the shelf and put it in a stack. Then I rearrange them over and over again until I come up with a poem (of sorts). Here’s a little spine poetry I put together with a stack of library holds that all came in at the same time.

Girl with a pearl earring
the idea of you
(may be a) state of terror
(That’s okay)
Find your unicorn space
under the whispering door
(and let) the house in the cerulean sea
(be your) paper palace

Go ahead - try it. What poems can you create from the books on your shelf?