One of my all time favorite things to do is read a poetry book once through then go back a second time and mark any poems that really speak to me or are so beyond relatable to something I have felt or experienced that I have to mark it to remember it.
I find it somewhat comforting to realize their are other people in the world who have experienced the same feelings as me and that they were able to put it into words in a way I never would have thought of.
How to Mark It Up:
It is oh so very simple! Basically just pick either a sticky note or highlighter up and as you read anything that “speaks” to you or that you really like mark it.
I usually stray away from highlighter just in case they bleed through the page, however I have lot of friends who are addicted to the highlighter markup. Personally I choose to use the tiny sticky notes tabs because they are simple, tiny, and can be removed if need be.
My Favorite Markups:
The first poetry I ever marked up was Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. This made the book have such a deeper meaning to me and I still go back and read poems that originally marked years ago.
There are many times where I will need a little pick me up and I will look through my different marked up poetry books for a poem to motivate myself or remind myself there is life beyond what I am feeling in this moment.
Turn it into a friendship activity:
My freshman year of college I received Milk & Honey for Christmas. I read it in a day and then spent the rest of break marking my favorite poems. When I got back to my dorm for Spring semester I suggested the book to my best friend. I gave her a different color sticky note than the one I had used. I told her to mark up any poems that stood out to her or spoke to her and her life in some way. After she marked up the book she returned it to me
After she read we passed the book along to our other friend and roommate giving her a third sticky note color and telling her to mark up poems for herself. After she finished we all went for coffee and looked into the different poems we marked. We had a few marked with all three colors, others with two and many with only one.
It was fun to see a different perspective on the poems and which one spoke to each of us. Since we are all very close there were a good many poems that we knew the reason why the person marked it for themselves. But there were many poems marked that we didn’t understand why. For some of those we shared our reasoning and what we got out of the poem.
All in all this small activity of sharing a poetry book and some sticky notes ended up bringing us even closer than we were. It’s a tradition we have started to stay in touch with other as we continue through school and will all eventually go off in different directions.
If you are looking for a fun way to stay in contact with friends and want to incorporate reading this is a great activity for you.
My friends and I are currently passing around The Sun and Her Flowers, another book written by Rupi Kaur.
I highly recommend getting into the markup game if you are someone who loves poetry or want to find a deeper meaning for yourself from a poetry novel.