the sun rises in spite of everything

Our newsletter comes every week from sleepy Bishop's Castle in Shropshire, and yet even for many of us here, there is a quiet, persistent anxiety that is hard to shake. A sense of unease as the world feels increasingly uncertain, and events far beyond our control seem to press in on our daily lives. 

And if this is how it feels here, in relative peace and safety, how much more must be carried by those living closer to the centre of conflict. Those for whom uncertainty is not a passing feeling but a daily reality. Those whose lives are shaped, moment by moment, by forces far more immediate and profound.

It reminds us that we are not separate from what is happening in the world, but part of it. That our worry, however distant its source, is a thread in a much larger human fabric and a shared response to a world in turmoil.

This week, your Poetry Pharmacist prescribes verses for uncertain times. For steadiness. For perspective. For the quiet courage of continuing, together. We love this poem for just that:

Sometimes, from Stonelight.

Sometimes things don’t go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail.
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war,
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can’t leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best intentions do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you.

Sheenagh Pugh

These are the poetry books we reach for first and most often recommend when seeking solace and hope. They have the power to meet us where we are, or gently lift our mood:

We've also been returning to these old favourites recently:
 
 

In unsettled times, there is something deeply comforting about community and coming together. When the world feels uncertain, shared spaces can offer steadiness, and a sense of grounding and reassurance.

We’re delighted to introduce these London based events, each created to nurture wellbeing and encourage moments of restoration and connection. For more information and to book your tickets for these wonderful events, visit our website.

        

A Literary Elixir for Uncertain Times

Our beautiful bespoke Poetry Pharmacy Gift Boxes are inspired by the sections of our bookshops and the Poetry Prescription anthologies and offer a potent dose of literary and sensory comfort. Inside, you’ll discover a pocket-sized poetry anthology, a poetic prescription, and a chocolate treat designed to soothe and uplift.

A gift for the inner life - for the part of us that reflects, feels, and searches for meaning. Our gift boxes are designed to lift the spirits, offering a sense of solace and connection. It is a way of acknowledging what someone may be going through.

A thoughtful gift can say so much: I see you. I understand. I’m here. You are loved.
And wherever they are, you can reach them. We ship to most parts of the world, so a gift, sent at just the right moment, can travel far beyond your doorstep.

Join award winning poet Caroline Smith to discover how the mundane & the life critical can be the raw materials for creativity. The snatched fragment of time, the poignant, the humorous. How can experience be caught and transfigured.

We will explore poetry of consolation and poetry of warning: of care for the self and family and care for our communities and world. Why does a poem work, why does it fail, when does the tender become sentimental, a passionate cause become ‘a design on others.’

Using sources, inspirations and prompts we will generate new poems and write in unexpected ways - exploring passion and heartbreak, care we have received, care we have given, poetry that steps forward and poetry that lets go.

Join our bookseller and director of York Literature Festival, Chloe Hanks for a thoughtful, carefully held conversation with J. T. Welsch, author of The Poetry of Suicide - Lessons in grief from the lives and deaths of poets.

In this event, Welsch reflects on poetry’s long engagement with suicide, drawing together literary voices such as Hamlet, Dante, Sylvia Plath, and Vladimir Mayakovsky with the deeply personal history of suicide within his own family. Rather than offering answers or conclusions, the conversation explores ambiguity, contradiction, and the limits of interpretation, asking what poetry can teach us about experiences that resist simple explanation.

The event will take place as a guided conversation, with space for listening, reflection, and audience questions.

Please note: this event engages with themes of suicide and death. A gentle content note and support resources will be shared. Attendees are welcome to step out at any point.

This show is an exclusive performance of Alistair's poems, separate from his 3-in-1 piano and poetry performance tour. This is Alistair - like never before - commenting on a world that is accelerating "like never before".

Join poet Jonathan Davidson for a Poetry Walk starting and finishing at The Poetry Pharmacy Lab in Bishop's Castle. Using a circular route, we will stroll along small roads and footpaths, stopping now and then to hear some poems read aloud in the open air. Copies of poems – by various carefully selected poets – will be provided, although participants are welcome to bring along short poems of their own to share.

While the walk will only be a few kilometres and therefore not too strenuous, it will involve stiles and quite possibly mud, so participants will be asked to bring along suitable footwear and clothing. We’ll walk at the pace of the slowest, the better to chat and enjoy the views. The ticket includes a drink and cake at journey’s end and numbers will be limited to 12 participants.