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HOMEPAGESamantha Reynolds2020-12-02T13:55:42-08:00

WHY I WRITE A POEM A DAY

In a quest to find more joy in the tedious rhythm of my life as a new mother, I vowed to write a poem every day that year to train myself to observe the world around me. That was 10 years ago, and I never stopped. May this space inspire you to notice the ordinary moments in your own days and find them suddenly bright with wonder.

TODAY’S POEM

Why we need art

We need art
because it moves us
the same way
it moves others
who are nothing like us
except the way
their hearts split open
which in the end
is all the likeness
that counts.

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @BENTLILY

I turn 50 today! Or maybe it’s Day One of Sam version 5.0. Either way, I’m grateful mush today, in the best way.

Thank you for the notes so many of you have sent (or beamed me silent love-ups) this past year. It’s been another quiet, private season for me. I miss the sweetness here though.

I send you all so much love, and may the little moments in all of your lives become a stack of joy. 💛

MY FIFTH SELF

I hold my mom’s hand,
her skin wrapped thin
around her loose bones
like those fresh spring rolls
my kids dip in peanut sauce.

With her other hand, she points
to a frame of her father
when he was young.

“Can you move that photo
of my first dad,”
she asks me.

I tell myself that it’s a good sign
that she still wears lipstick,
first thing in the morning
and again before dinner,
war paint
for a woman
who battles
being erased.

“But you only had one dad,”
I say, and then because
he’d been a difficult man,
I smile and say that one was enough.

But she insists,
and then points
to a photo of me
when I was three.

“And there’s my first daughter,”
she says,
rolling her eyes,
clearly annoyed
at having to explain
the obvious.

I wheel her down to dinner later,
knocking back conversations with the residents
like ping pong balls,
sentences that bolt out of nowhere
as though I’d been chatting
with each of them for hours.

As I drive home later,
I notice my own hands,
freckled and creased.

I remember reading about cells,
how we shed and regenerate
a new version of ourselves
every ten years.

My mom was right.

I’m almost fifty,
pregnant
with my own
fifth self.

I will start wearing lipstick
in this next life,
I decide.

Not war paint though,
not yet,
just a bit of colour,
like any blank canvas
deserves.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#50thbirthday #agingwithattitude #mindset #thoughtsoftheday #bigmilestones #womenover40 #womenover50 #birthdaypost #poemsofinsta #poemoftheday #bentlily #selfreflection #renewal #newlife #aginginplace #samanthareynolds #thinkingoutloud

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1. It’s my birthday! 🎂

2. I haven’t posted a poem for so long and so many of you have written the sweetest notes. Thank you for missing me. 🙏

3. I just felt I needed a break from social media, as kind as you all are (and you really are).

4. I have a few friends going through the hardest times. Please send them all your love, and join me in savouring the moments we have. 💛

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Some exciting news in our bentlily family! My amazing designer, Shahla (@sharwynth), is due in a few weeks with twin boys! She is the magical artist who for the past three years has woven all my poems into beautiful art. Plus, she’s a social media maven and she handles all the administrative tasks of getting my poems out into the world so that all I have to do is write them, read your beautiful comments, and write you back. And most importantly, she is truly one of the most thoughtful, kind, fun and love-full humans I have ever known. To say I’m going to miss her this coming year while she’s on maternity leave is a vast understatement. Her last day is today, and I will have some help from the wonderful Bhav who I am so excited to work with, but he also has a full plate of responsibilities at my actual paying day job 😘 so you may notice over the next year that I won’t be posting a poem every day. My noticing muscle is as fired up as it’s ever been these days, so please know that if you don’t hear from me for a few days, I still have my senses wide open and hope you do too. If you have words of love for Shahla who embarks on her motherhood journey in a few weeks, feel free to leave them below. Big love to you all! xo

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#cherisheverymoment #keepthemclose #momsofinstagram #poetrydaily #maternityleave #momentsinbetween #amwriting #takenotice #momfluencer #momslife #reasonstosmile #twinmoms #writersandpoets #spilledink #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #momentsinmotherhood #poetscorner #dailypoem #positivepoetry #poetryclub #dailypositivity #poetrylovers #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

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Happy June, my loves. One of the best parts of living in this part of the world is the way this season stretches herself out with such enthusiasm. I would too if I’d been living in such a thin slice of day for so long. ☀️

JUNE

The world is dunked in green
and plants sprint upward
to an orchestra of robins.
Night comes late as the sun drags
her feet across the sky,
reluctant to draw the curtain
on the day.
I can’t blame her.
It is almost summer
we are thawed
and thirsty
for play.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#june2023 #springvibes #greeneverywhere #newgrowth #springdays #naturelovers #takenotice #poetryaccount #writersandpoets #IGpoets #greenvibes #treesfordays #poemoftheday #poetrylovers #dailypoem #writersofinstagram #igpoet #amwriting #spilledink #canadianpoet #poetryforthesoul #poetsociety #beautyintheeveryday #junevibes #writingcommunity #noticetheordinary #poetsofinstagram #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems #bentlily

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If you see it, would you let me know? 🥺

A BIG BAG

I misplaced a big bag,
I’m sure they gave me one
when he arrived,
the kind that holds
aches and coughs
and knee scabs.
For a moment
I thought I might be expected
to let him hold onto
these ailments,
these inconveniences,
these rituals of sorrow.
But I’m much happier
to carry them
if it’s all right,
in that bag,
if I could only find it,
it is so big
you can’t miss it,
it could fit
a life.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#mothers #thinkingoutloud #lookingback #perspectiveshift #instagrampoetry #sometimesiwonder #dailyreflections #igpoets #motherandson #nationalpoetrymonth #motherhoodunplugged #spilledink #quotesbyme #parentingmoments #beingamom #momfluencer #instapoetry #writersandpoets #apoemaday #poetrylovers #canadianpoet #amwriting #poetrydaily #mothering #writtenbyme #poetryislife #takenotice #bentlilypoems #samanthareynolds #bentlily

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✈️

WHAT BIRDS THINK OF AIRPLANES

We wake up and listen
as the sun climbs
over our windowsill
and the park erupts with birds.

The gossipy honk of the seagull,
the wise gurgle of the pigeon,
the nag of the crow.

I ask my son
what he thinks they are saying.

‘They’re talking about airplanes,’

he says with a look
that implies I should know this.

Just then one rumbles over our roof,
and I think he’s probably right.

All those birds
wondering what makes
their metal friend so angry
that he roars
whenever he flies by.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#thingskidssay #takenotice #instapoet #wondering #thoughtsoftheday #perspectiveshift #deepthoughts #thesmallthingsinlife #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momsofinstagram #dailypractice #beautyintheeveryday #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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✨

IGNITE

Sometimes he looks at me
like we just met,
and he wonders
if it will always
be this good.

I want to tell him
thank you,
but not in words.

I want to button myself up
inside the wet room of his heart
and press the hushed bigness
of my gratitude
into its soft walls.

Gratitude
for seeing the light
that ignites
my plainest self.

The way I imagine
the beetle feels
about the moon
as it hoists itself up
in the thick dark sky,

collapsing the day
and transforming him from a dull thing,
crawling along the lumpy earth
into a wink of light.

Finally,
he is a firefly again,
lit up by the moon,
releasing his luminous secret
to the world.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#thinkingoutloud #aboutlove #lovepoem #perspectiveshift #momfluencer #loveworks #cherisheverymoment #noticebeauty #poetry #originalpoem #fallinginlove #momentsinbetween #poetrymonth #poetryaccount #thelittlethingsinlife #itsthesmallthingsinlife #amwriting #instapoet #lookcloser #mindsetshift #bodyandsoul #poetryoftheday #lookwithin #prosepoetry #writersandpoets #writerscommunity #spilledink #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

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What if? 💛

THE MUSE’S PERFECT FOIL

What if we don’t have just one muse
but a trillion
disguised as bacteria
outnumbering our own cells
ten to one
an army of ideas
storming our lives
demanding
we surrender
to art.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#musings #creativesofinstagram #mindsetshift #creativepractice #wondering #creativityfound #beautyintheeveryday #takenotice #instapoet #perspectiveshift #thoughtsoftheday #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #dailypractice #momfluencer #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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What would you say?

IF I MET TIME AT A DINNER PARTY, THIS IS WHAT I WOULD SAY

What is it about tomorrow
that makes you so hungry?

Your seconds like whiskers,
twitching,
sniffing,
never
stopping.

Don’t you ever want to fall asleep in the sun
halfway through a good book?

Or perhaps novels intimidate you,
all that foreshadowing
and flashbacks,
severing off whole episodes
of your being.

You must wonder
at us writers,
falling out of step
with your linear trudge.

Yet stalked by the perils of inconsequence,
we try to stitch our way
from one century to the next
to stain our ideas
into the earth.

Don’t you see,
you are the seat
and you are the enemy.

I think I will cast you in my next play
as that plain man
nobody noticed,
who quietly
ate the world.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#timegoesby #mindsetshift #musings #writerthings #momentsinbetween #cherisheverymoment #beautyintheeveryday #alonewithmythoughts #poetsofig #poetgram #writerscommunity #perspectiveshift #personification #noticeeverything #prosepoetry #writersandpoets #takenotice #poetryinmotion #instapoetry #spilledink #poetryaccount #writersofinstagram #amwriting #writingsociety #poetrygram #poemoftheday #writerslife #samanthareynolds #damilypoem #bentlilypoem

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✨

PRESCRIPTION FOR BOUNCING

A child on a trampoline
for the first time
squealing tempest of joy
makes me think
more psychiatrists
should write prescriptions
for bouncing.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#purejoy #letthembelittle #positivepost #dailywisdom #happiness #instapoet #thoughtsoftheday #cherisheverymoment #thesmallthingsinlife #thingsthatmakemehappy #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momsofinstagram #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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🌌

THE GALAXIES UNDER YOUR BED

If you can remember
that one day
we are all going to die

you don’t stop doing the dishes,
or dusting under the bed

you get infatuated
with the soapy water,
the balls of lint
like galaxies cavorting
while you sleep.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#thinkingoutloud #thoughtsoftheday #dailywisdom #cosmicthoughts #perspectiveshift #beautyintheeveryday #womenover40 #womenover50 #womenover60 #cherisheverymoment #poetrydaily #mindsetshift #momentsinbetween #amwriting #takenotice #momfluencer #writersandpoets #spilledink #motherhood #dailyreminders #mindbodysoul #poetscorner #dailypoem #positivepoetry #poetryclub #dailypositivity #poetrylovers #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

Photo by @anastasiachomlack

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Here’s to those hidden underwriters. ✨

THE UNDERWRITER

It could have been the day
that a poem wouldn’t come,
when insurance adjusters
bullied her imagination
into a corner,
but art lies dormant
in her eyeballs,
paper floats
like crow feathers,
policy could be a pretty girl’s name,
and who is this underwriter anyways
who lies beneath her bed,
penning all those
strange dreams.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#underwriter #takenotice #instapoet #thoughts #thoughtsoftheday #poetryaccount #wondering #writingthings #writerslifeforme #dailypoem #poetsofig #momsofinstagram #dailypractice #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writers #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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💛

THE TRICK TO A HAPPY ENDING

You think your story is a pyramid
of lovers and places you’ve been
but your mind
holds only one pen
while your cells are a factory
of writers telling
their own tales
like those elves
who get no credit
on the big day
so if you want them
to toe the line
smile like a fool
as often as you can
and trick them into writing
happy endings.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#happyending #noticetheordinary #takenotice #payattention #writerthings #beautyintheeveryday #momlife #noticebeauty #mindbodysoul #beautyintheworld #poemoftheday #cherisheverymoment #mothersofinstagram #dailypoem #womenover40 #womenover50 #dailypractice #theartofnoticing #momsofinstagram #musings #thinkingoutloud #writersandpoets #spilledink #poetsociety #writersofIG #writersnetwork #amwriting #poetryaccount #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

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🚗

THE IDEA OF ROAD TRIPS

I like the idea of road trips,
but then I start to question
the wisdom of thundering around
in a tin can,
and my legs
do tend to fill with hot bees,
so that I want to kick
at the glove compartment,
which irritates my husband,
and then I remember
why I prefer coffee shops
and the harmless wind
my body makes
as I walk
there and back.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#roadtrips #takenotice #instapoet #longweekendvibes #thoughtsoftheday #cherisheverymoment #thesmallthingsinlife #treatyourself #thingsthatmakemehappy #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momsofinstagram #dailypractice #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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Maybe we all need to take more picnics. 💛

A BALANCING ACT

The Buddhist tells me
there is no past,
only the present,
a balancing act of breath
on the head of a pin.

Tattoos and marriages and layaway plans
beg to differ,
but even these emerge as new in every moment,
the monks insist.

I asked a yogi once about the future,
the vanishing act of the past I can swallow whole,
but what of the summer job
I never took in Whitehorse,
the friend who hung himself
after work on a Tuesday night,
the train I missed.

I used to imagine
that all stolen paths kept going,
busting past life’s detours,
unfolding to another ending
farther away,
a satisfactory conclusion,
like when you were a kid
and you rode your bike downhill
without peddling or using your brakes,
and you let the momentum take you,
fast at first,
and then slower and slower and slower,
and you can barely believe how perfect it is
when you coast,
wobbling now,
right to a stop at your back gate.

And the yogi said,
‘take more picnics.’

I didn’t know what she meant,
obviously,
but I did it anyways,
my supper tasted lovely dipped in the wind,
and the sun bowed her head that evening,
whispered something to the grass,
it made me cry a little,
and I watched as the tears balanced
like dew drops.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#dailywisdom #wordswithqueens #balancingact #takenotice #payattention #wordsoftheday #mindsetshift #lifelessons #balance #wisdomquotes #worklifebalance #perspectiveshift #writersandpoets #momfluencer #thinkingoutloud #poetrycorner #poemoftheday #homeless #dailypoem #prose #poetryaccount #writerslife #writersofinstagram #poetrynetwork #poetscorner #amwriting #spilledink #dailypoetry #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

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Anyone else share my love? 🤓

IF I HAD DINNER WITH TINTIN

I wouldn’t ask him about his adventures
the tombs
the sharks
the clever way he rides
on the tops of trains

I wouldn’t ask him if he’s ever been in love
if he reads novels in the bath
if he believes in psychics
or God

I would lean into those black eyes
like holes punched out of the night
and see for myself
how so few strokes of a pen
can evoke
so much.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#tintin #instapoet #thoughtsoftheday #thesmallthingsinlife #favouritecharacters #tintinlover #thingsthatmakemehappy #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momsofinstagram #thoughts #booksilove #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #wondering #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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Ever do this at home? 😂

THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS KITCHEN NOTE

I find a piece of paper
in my kitchen drawer
and I jot down

‘buy bananas’

before I forget
but there,
at the bottom,
in steady ink,
nobody’s handwriting I know

‘don’t forget to tell him’

and I know
I will erode hours
from my life
wondering

who are you,
tell him what,
and what were you doing in my kitchen.

I make a plate
of crackers and butter
and begin to pick at it
like a stray whisker,
this new knot
welded
to my brain.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#kitchennotes #musings #forgetful #thingsido #momentsinbetween #alonewithmythoughts #poetsofig #poetgram #writerscommunity #relatable #noticeeverything #prosepoetry #mystery #wondering #momfluencer #writersandpoets #takenotice #poetryinmotion #instapoetry #spilledink #poetryaccount #writersofinstagram #amwriting #writingsociety #poetrygram #poemoftheday #writerslife #samanthareynolds #damilypoem #bentlilypoem

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A poem from when my son was small. 💛

A MILLION TINY VOICES

He went to the park today
in hockey pyjamas
which are too small,
and a peculiar choice
on a hot day,
but we both know
it has nothing to do
with pyjamas,
it is his cells
chanting
a million tiny voices,

‘I belong
to me.’

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#beyourself💯 #takenotice #instapoet #thoughtsoftheday #cherisheverymoment #thesmallthingsinlife #treatyourself #thingsthatmakemehappy #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #beyourself #momsofinstagram #dailypractice #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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Here’s my love poem for librarians.

I relied on them when I was a little girl, and I love them just as much now. Libraries and public radio. Not much I wouldn’t do to defend these two institutions.

Leave a ❤️ if you love libraries (and librarians!) as much as I do. #librarylove

BEFORE THE INTERNET

When I was young,
if I had homework
that my mom couldn’t help with,
she’d tell me to call the library.

I had them on speed dial,
Lorraine and Shauna,
sometimes Jane.

Such comfort when they picked up the phone,
the steadiness of their voices,
the minutes on hold,
the satisfaction of finding out
when Michael Jackson was born,
and could a cobra
eat you alive.

But I didn’t really get the system,
so I’d also call
to see when the bus came next,
the phone number for the corner store,
and was Anne of Green Gables
going to play on TV
again this year.

What makes my heart ache
is thinking back
to how I bet they knew it was me
every time,
the little girl who called
with the strangest questions
and how they put on
their kindest selves
to greet me.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#librarylover #whatbringsyoujoy #radiolover #publiclibraries #readers #booksbooksbooks #librariansofig #librariansrock #keeplearningkeepgrowing #writerslife #neverstopreading #publicdomain #simplethingsinlife #librariansofinstagram #poetryclub #writersandpoets #radioshows #IGpoet #literarylife #amreading #dailypoem #amwriting #childhoodmemories #poetryaccount #spilledink #poemoftheday #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily

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🧁

ODE TO MUFFINS

You are the swindle of cakes
pretending to be good for me
and I play along
every afternoon
with my latte
you as my squat companion
watching me add words to the page
while I eat you down
to your crumbly bones.

The sun sets on the trees
like caramel
and my husband and I hum old tunes
and eat three of you
for dinner.

Hardly a balanced meal
but somehow proof
that the world must be decent enough
to have invented muffins
such unreasonable pleasure
in an ordinary day.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#muffins #takenotice #instapoet #muffinlovers #thoughtsoftheday #cherisheverymoment #thesmallthingsinlife #treatyourself #thingsthatmakemehappy #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momsofinstagram #dailypractice #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

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Just memories. 🥰

THE APPEAL OF BEING SMALL

She stood in a bamboo forest once,
and she knew exactly how a beetle must feel
winding its way through grass.

Those soaring stems,
knobby like giraffe legs,
and she was the flea.

Every so often she thinks of that moment,
and the curious calm
that comes from pretending
she is a shadowy fleck
in the infinite sea
of small things.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#cherisheverymoment #motherslove #keepthemclose #momsofinstagram #poetrydaily #momentsinbetween #amwriting #takenotice #momfluencer #momslife #letthembelittle #lovemylittles #reasonstosmile #writersandpoets #spilledink #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #raisingkids #momentsinmotherhood #dailyreminders #mindbodysoul #poetscorner #dailypoem #positivepoetry #poetryclub #dailypositivity #poetrylovers #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

Photo by @anastasiachomlack

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It’s my 48th twirl around this world today. This is a birthday poem from a few years ago but today’s birthday feels just as packed with love. If you saw yesterday’s post (or replied to it!), you’ll know that my son surprised me with the most amazing gift of reflections from my family, friends and my beautiful community of readers here. 💛😭

In what feels like the strangely right way to spend this day, it will be with my beautiful mom, to whom I owe more than I can ever repay, helping her move into a long-term care home after a valiant effort to rehabilitate and return home. In the end, a progressively weak back (too many falls) and the cruel and steady march of dementia makes this the safest and best place. I am actually hopeful it will be wonderful. They have “Happy Hour” so she can have a glass of wine every day, they have a garden and greenhouse, amazing staff, movie nights…lots of things that bring her joy. ❤️

Love to you all, and thank you for all the birthday love. 🙏

MY UNPREDICTABLE BIRTHDAY MOMENT

There is cake,
and my husband plants poems
under my keyboard.

Phone calls and texts,
I am stuffed with love.

My mother sings to me
before noon,
because that’s the rule.

The day sewn up
with that half hour,
unplanned
between stops,
a cinnamon bun,
an interview on the car radio,
indie filmmakers,
their journey makes my legs twitch
with my own big dreams.

I had thought I would use the pocket of time
to reflect before the year thaws
into a murky version of itself.

But I am too fizzy for contemplation,
I unroll the window,
a man is picking avocados
from the grocer’s basket on the sidewalk,
he is singing Against All Odds by Phil Collins.
I join in,
loud,
and then I drive away,
not even blushing.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#birthdaymoment #poetryisnotdead #spilledink #moodtoday #momsofinstagram #momfluencer #birthdayvibes #writerscommunity #poetrylovers #poetssociety #instapoet #poetryofinstagram #poetsofinstagram #writersandpoets #dailypoem #poetrydaily #womenover40 #womenover50 #amwriting #beautyintheveryday #bentlilypoems #wordlove #beautyiseverywhere #writeaboutit #poetryaccount #poets #takenotice #writersofig #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds

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This is Bookey, Sam's son. To surprise her for her birthday tomorrow, I wanted to ask you all to please share, in the comments, one word that describes her. She has promised to stay away from Instagram for today, so I can peek at the comments, and use them to make something special.

Big thanks! 🥰
- Bookey

UPDATE: It’s Sam here. My face actually hurts from smiling. I can’t believe Bookey did this for me. I’m overwhelmed. And for all of you for your love-packed words and responses. And for my amazing designer, Shahla, who helped him get this post out! He also called and texted and emailed ALL my friends and family to get their words too. Thanks to my sweet Petesie for helping supply the contacts he didn’t have, and his phone for texting! I’m moving my beautiful 83-year-old mom into a long-term care home today after several new falls landed her back in hospital. I know it’s the right thing and the place seems genuinely lovely, but it will be hard in many ways, and Bookey must have known I needed some extra love fuel to do this on my birthday. Thank you so much to all of you sweet souls for your part. 💛

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#momentsinmotherhood

AUDACIOUS FAITH

The ducklings shoot across the lake
like pinballs,
their mother bellows behind them,
a litany of quacks,
presumably about eagles
and staying in line.

I feel for her
but I can’t help but root
for her babies.

Such exhilaration in their feet,
racing into the newness.

I see it in my son too,
impervious to doubt,
he runs from one moment to the next,
convinced the world is waiting
to show him more tricks.

Watch his hands,
they grab at everything.
You think it’s curiosity
but it’s more urgent than that,
it’s his spirit,
hungry
as he shovels in life.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#mothersdayweekend #takenotice #instapoet #curiouskids #keepthemclose #motherhoodrising #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momsofinstagram #momscanrelate #motherhoodunplugged #dailypractice #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

192 8

Happy Mother's Day weekend, my loves. 😘

A ROLLING CLAIM ON NEW MOTHERHOOD

You’re only given the title
“new mother”
for a few months.

This is absurd,
because even though
you now have a baby,
you’ve never had a toddler before,
which is when you will feel new
all over again.

Just as now
I’m a new mother again,
as I find my way
for the first time
with a tween.

And so it goes,
the constant foraging of parenthood
into new terrains

which is why this year
on my birthday,
I will buy my mom
a “new mother” greeting card.

Since I am her only child,
it’s my nod to her road ahead
of parenting a strong-willed
forty-eight-year-old woman
for the very first time.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#mothersdayweekend #momappreciationpost #mothersday2023 #motherhood_rising #momentsinmotherhood #newmoms #loveyourmom #momsofinstagram #spilledink #momfluencer #writerscommunity #poetrylovers #poetssociety #instapoet #womenover40 #womenover50 #womenover60 #poetryofinstagram #poetsofinstagram #writersandpoets #dailypoem #poetrydaily #amwriting #bentlilypoems #poetryaccount #poets #takenotice #writersofig #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds

493 34

🥺

THE KIND OF MOMENT YOU FORGET

Nothing happened tonight,
except that we walked back
to the cabin in the dark
holding hands,
and we made funny noises
to scare any ghosts,
and motherhood is like this
most of the time,
nothing notable to report,
except that it was perfect,
which is why I write so many poems,
to pin the ordinary moments
to the fabric of my memory
before they float
away.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#momentsinmotherhood #keepthemclose #letthembelittle #motherhoodrising #momscanrelate #momsofinstagram #takenotice #instapoet #dailywisdom #dailywalk #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #dailypractice #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

743 24

Don’t worry mamas. Keep it up. 😘

A MANIFESTO FOR MOTHERHOOD

Don’t worry that they refuse to crawl
or eat anything but bananas and bread.

Don’t worry about whether you read the right book,
or got any of it
on video.

Don’t worry about their kindergarten teacher,
or if they’ll always be shy.

Love them with vigor,
love yourself just as much.

Don’t let anxiety
wrench your spirit shut.

They chose you.

Your job is to be seen,
so dig for your truth
and show it to them,
tender and unpolished.

Don’t use the phrase book of anyone else.

Call them a tuba rumple,
make up dance routines,
have baths at noon.

Be late sometimes,
just the three of you,
because the sky was orange and silk,
and the wind was just right
for kites.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#cherisheverymoment #motherslove #keepthemclose #momsofinstagram #poetrydaily #momentsinbetween #amwriting #takenotice #momfluencer #momslife #letthembelittle #lovemylittles #reasonstosmile #writersandpoets #spilledink #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #raisinggoodhumans #momentsinmotherhood #dailyreminders #mindbodysoul #poetscorner #dailypoem #positivepoetry #poetryclub #dailypositivity #poetrylovers #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

Photo by @anastasiachomlack

1001 68

😁

THE JOYS OF FLOSSING

I am a flossing zealot,
partly for the minty efficiency of it,
but mostly because it requires no strategy,
no long-range planning,
no nuance,
no pitch.

It is just a piece of string
that gets the food
from my teeth,

and the taxi driver said to me today,
nothing is simple anymore.

It was rhetorical,
and he was in gridlock,
so it wasn’t the time
to point out
that some things are still simple,
you just have to remember
to notice.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#smallthingsinlife #momentsinbetween #quoteoftheday #wordstoliveby #simplethings #takenotice #instapoet #flossing #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #dailywisdom #momfluencer #beautyintheeveryday #hopeful #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

180 6

🌊

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A WAVE

I put my feet in the ocean
for the first time this year,
so cold my brain takes a moment to decide
whether to categorize it as cold
or a knife wound.

The waves are gentle,
little licks,
and I wish what I always wish
when I stand on the hem of the sea

that I could know the story of each wave,
the thrashing,
the sharks,
the freighters,
dark and furtive
like towering ghosts.

These waves are like us,
rendered frail in our old age.

Who would guess that quiet wisp in the chair
once had thunderous sex
and made whole audiences weak
with his charm.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#waves #oceanlover #perspectiveshift #coldwater #poetryaccount #writersandpoets #momfluencer #womenover40 #womenover50 #womenover60 #IGpoets #poemoftheday #poetrylovers #oceandipping #dailypoem #thinkingoutloud #musingsonlife #writersofinstagram #poetrygram #amwriting #spilledink #noticetheordinary #poetsofinstagram #takenotice #instapoetry #writersofig #igpoets #poemgram #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

234 9

📝

BEFORE THE GROCERY LIST

Sheet of paper
you lay there
neutral as tap water
you don’t smell like trees
you smell
like boxes
do you see me coming
with your albino eyes
and after I have tattooed you
with a poem about bees
or things to pick up
at the drugstore
do you become the markings on your skin
or are you like the cow
words crawling across your hide
like flies
that you cannot
or choose not
to notice.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#takenotice #instapoet #poetryaccount #lists #perspectiveshift #momentsinbetween #writerslife #dailypoem #poetsofig #momfluencer #grocerylist #beautyintheeveryday #itsthelittlethings #Mindsetshift #writerscommunity #writerthings #inbetweenmoments #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

122 2

A case for longhand. 🖊️

LONGHAND

I read that John Irving writes his novels longhand
because his pen is the right pace for his thoughts,
as though our hands and our brain
are fused.

I try it today,
the pen nestled in the pen-shaped pothole
on my finger,
my thoughts yanking at my hand
like trying to walk slowly
near a flock of ducks
with a big dog.

Try it yourself,
see how your synapses protest
the measured crawl of ink,
a mismatched dance routine.

Or perhaps you are the rare one,
you’ve been trying
to goad your thoughts into keeping up
with the keyboard,
the words clatter onto the screen
like dominoes,
like speaking
before you’ve thought it through.

You will look at the pen afterwards,
all those workshops,
books on plot,
the writing coach who suggested whiskey,
and all this time
it was just this you needed,
a humble pen
to plod your way
to brilliance.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#writersandpoets #dailypoem #itsthelittlethings #noticetheordinary #momfluencer #musings #writersofig #writtenword #writerthings #igwriters #dailypractice #creativityfound #creativepractice #mindsetshift #thoughtsoftheday #dailywisdom #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #perspectiveshift #poetryclub #poetryaccount #instapoet #writersnetwork #prosepoetry #poetrylovers #takenotice #amwriting #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems #bentlily

303 26

If only they were always this little. ❤️❤️❤️

THANK YOU

Thank you
for stopping to clap,
your big joy
at tiny things
I never thought
to notice.

Thank you
for being small,
it makes us move
and talk more gently.

Thank you
for your cry
for a thing I can fix
like alchemy,
I hug you
and your sadness
falls away.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#letthembelittle #cherisheverymoment #parenthood #raisegoodkids #kidsbeingkids #poetrydaily #takenotice #instapoet #motherhood #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momfluencer #beautyintheeveryday #itsthelittlethings #poetryisnotdead #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

226 7

Happy springtime, my loves. 🌸

ODE TO CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Fat fists
of petals
punch
the sky
with delight.

Outrageously
optimistic
tree,
you defend
the right
to frolic.

You brave the cold
all winter
for your one chance
to remind us
that happiness
is always
within reach,
waiting
for a chance
to bloom.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#cherryblossom #springflowers #blossomwatch #pinkrain #naturelovers #flowerpower #instapoet #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #momfluencer #beautyintheeveryday #signsofspring #springvibes #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #spring2023 #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

191 7

Always so curious about those alternate lives. 🤭

THE ALMOSTS

If I met God,
I would ask if the almosts
were real or just plot points
to make me think
I was steering.

Like how I almost
became a homeopath
and married the quiet man
with the beard.

Or how I almost
moved to Whitehorse
and named him Bose.

And the time I almost went for it,
and then didn’t.

If God could arrange it,
I would ask
to see the movie
for each one.

The unspooling of those fates
I extinguished,
the taste of all those lives
I didn’t swallow.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#almosts #thoughtsoftheday #curiousmind #wondering #takenotice #instapoet #maybe #poetryaccount #whatifs #dailypoem #poetsofig #momfluencer #anotherlife #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #alternatehistory #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #tulipsinbloom #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

443 32

#thingskidssay

WHEN I GET LITTLE

We keep telling you
about the things you can do
when you grow up
and today you had a few things
in store for me too

when I get little

like how you will help me
into your car seat
and teach me to count
to really big

at first I marveled
at your circle of life
then I realized how mighty
it must feel
to imagine you finally
being in charge of me

but as you went on
I could have wept
for how you pictured
all the ways
you would soothe me
in our big jagged world.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#whenIgetlittle #cherisheverymoment #lifecycle #keepthemclose #momsofinstagram #poetrydaily #momentsinbetween #amwriting #takenotice #momfluencer #momslife #letthembelittle #lovemylittles #reasonstosmile #writersandpoets #spilledink #motherhood #canadianpoets #momentsinmotherhood #dailyreminders #poetscorner #dailypoem #positivepoetry #poetryclub #dailypositivity #poetrylovers #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

Photo by @anastasiachomlack

321 21

❤️

DO YOU REMEMBER

Do you remember
the cabin with no electricity
we had been going out
for a month
we stayed up all night
and in the velvet
of all that darkness
I forgot
I couldn’t sing.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#thinkingoutloud #throwback #lovepoem #doyouremember #momfluencer #husbandwife #cherisheverymoment #noticebeauty #poetry #originalpoem #fallinginlove #momentsinbetween #poetryaccount #thelittlethingsinlife #inbetweenmoments #itsthesmallthingsinlife #amwriting #instapoet #lookcloser #mindsetshift #bodyandsoul #poetryoftheday #lookwithin #prosepoetry #writersandpoets #writerscommunity #spilledink #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

230 6

😢

HOME

You believe everything has a home,
like the itsy bitsy spider
who lives behind my ear
(though I try not to think about it)

and your pee,
which you told me yesterday
gets flushed home,
where it opens the door
and makes pasta for all its friends

which is why
when you asked me
about the man who sleeps
by the Safeway,
and I told you he doesn’t
have a home,
you looked so serious.

‘But where is his mama?’

I wondered if the man
asks himself
the same question

but before I could think
of what to say,
you pointed out
a car just like Grandpa’s

and it wasn’t until later
just before bed
that you asked me
if I thought that man
would fit inside the fort
you just made
of pillows.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#homelessness #crisis #thingskidssay #empathymatters #raisegoodkids #poemdaily #thoughtsoftheday #kindnessquotes #parenthoodmoments #homelessnessawareness #payattention #wordsoftheday #writersandpoets #home #thinkingoutloud #poetrycorner #poemoftheday #homeless #dailypoem #prose #poetryaccount #writerslife #writersofinstagram #poetrynetwork #poetscorner #amwriting #spilledink #dailypoetry #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

222 17

🎈

A SHORT, CIRCUITOUS TREATISE ON WHY WE LIKE BALLOONS

It’s not for you to be happy
joy is like the wind
always there
waiting for you
to believe
you are light enough
to float.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#joy #thingsthatmakemehappy #takenotice #instapoet #poetryaccount #dailypoem #balloonlovers #happyvibes #dailypositivity #poetsofig #momfluencer #positivepost #balloonlover #beautyintheeveryday #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #micropoem #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

161 3

Happy Saturday, my loves. Hope it's packed with beautiful details. 😘

PAY ATTENTION

Pay attention
to the sound your face makes
when you have your best ideas.

Does it crack open with gasping,
or slam with words
as you pack the vapour of plans
into sentences,
like suitcases.

Pay attention,
so the next time you hear that sound,
you can answer me.

What were you just doing
to ripen such a marvelous thought.

Don’t you see,
each moment waits
a second,
a chance
to do less of everything else,
and do more
of what makes you soar.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#noticetheordinary #takenotice #payattention #beautyintheeveryday #momlife #noticebeauty #mindbodysoul #beautyintheworld #poemoftheday #dailyroutine #cherisheverymoment #mothersofinstagram #dailypoem #womenover40 #womenover50 #dailypractice #theartofnoticing #momsofinstagram #busylife #musings #thinkingoutloud #writersandpoets #spilledink #poetsociety #writersofIG #writersnetwork #amwriting #poetryaccount #samanthareynolds #bentlilypoems

226 5

The best remedy to untangle the mind.🚶‍♀️

WHY I WALK

I can think sitting down,
but if I need to make a decision,
I must walk.

Some say they do it for the fresh air,
to clear the mind.

But it’s gravity that works for me,
stomping my synapses
into my belly,
that fire pit of resolve.

Halfway around the lake,
my flailing mob of thoughts
is incinerated,
and there in the ash
is the plainness of
yes or no.

~ Samantha Reynolds

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#takeawalk #amwalking #gooutside #mentalhealth #freshair #goforawalk #takenotice #instapoet #dailywisdom #dailywalk #poetryaccount #dailypoem #poetsofig #dailypractice #momfluencer #itsthelittlethings #writerscommunity #writersandpoets #writersgram #thinkingoutloud #spilledink #originalpoem #poetry #poem #poetgram #amwriting #noticetheordinary #samanthareynolds #bentlily #bentlilypoems

453 9

BENTLILY IN THE PRESS

“Samantha Reynolds defines poetry.”

Oprah magazine

“All the feels.”

MariaShriver.com

“A magic seed catalogue for the soul.”

Danielle LaPorte

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