Beautifully Mundane: Praises of Stillness

By Alison E. Berman

In a time when we are sold the idea that life should be a series of blissed-out Instagram-worthy moments, Beautifully Mundane is the opposite.
In brief poetic bursts, Alison E. Berman captures moments of subtle beauty that she experienced while living and traveling throughout South America over the course of a year.
The poems of Beautifully Mundane are celebrations of what arises when we slow down to the minutiae of the surrounding world. Each poem helps the reader dial into a snapshot of present life, and open space for its simple beauty to shine through.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tablo Publishing
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685830694

Book preview

Introduction 

It started in Cali, Colombia, drinking a homemade lemonade alone in an unheated pool. No air conditioning in my apartment and a thick, 90-degree sky, what more was there to do but to be with my own thoughts in that screamingly cold pool?

The sun began to set and it hit me that after six weeks unplugged from the whirl of Silicon Valley, I had finally unwound enough to be at peace with what I was doing in that moment, which was just about nothing at all. 

That was it for the day 

it was a good day

cold water hugging my legs

thick brown cane sugar tumbling 

down clear glass