2025 Postcard Poem Exchange: Poetry & Shelter Poetry Coalition Themed Programming
In Fall 2025, Kundiman Fellows and community members engaged in a month-long Postcard Poem Exchange considering the theme “Poetry & Shelter.” During this project, participants wrote and mailed poems that contemplated the meaning of shelter, depicted people and places who provided shelter, interacted with lines from stories that served as shelter, and imagined a world where shelter is a universal right.
This Postcard Poem Exchange was part of the Poetry Coalition’s annual programming centered around a theme of social importance, and Kundiman kicked off the exchange by sharing this excerpt from Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s poem “Something About Living:”
Love is a story
we never tire of telling...
Love lives in many rooms.
Below, we’ve collected a selection of this year’s postcard poems, as well as a full archive of the weekly writing prompts and recommended readings.
2025 Postcard Gallery
Weekly Prompts and Suggested Readings
PROMPTS:
Week 1 — The Meaning of Shelter:
Think back to a room where love lives for you, a place that has been a shelter for you. Write an ode or love poem addressed to that room or place.
Week 2 — Providing & Receiving Shelter:
Picture or imagine someone who provides comfort, shelter, or softness for you. It could be yourself or a loved one. Write a poem towards the textures or shape of that person.
Week 3 — Shelter as a Universal Right:
Visualize a world where shelter is a universal right. What does this new beginning look like? Write a poem contrasting this new world from the old. Consider the steps needed to preserve or destroy these worlds.
Week 4 — Language and Story as Shelter:
Think of a story (from childhood or recent) that has brought you shelter. Write a poem that uses its lines as the beginning and/or end of your poem.
Optional: Revisit the lines from Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s poem “Something About Living” that were shared at the start of the Postcard Poem Exchange (copied below). Over the last few weeks, have any doors opened up to new rooms or places that have been a shelter for you? If so, write a poem addressed to that new room or place.
Love is a story
we never tire of telling...
Love lives in many rooms.
--Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, from "Something About Living"
SUGGESTED READINGS AND LINKS:
“Beautiful Altadena” by Jessica Abughattas
“Orange Grove” by Troy Osaki
“Darling Coffee” by Meena Alexander
“Ode to My Lover’s Sequined Dress” by Jaz Sufi
“These Poems” by June Jordan
“Every day as a wide field, every page” by Naomi Shihab Nye
“Cento Between the Ending and the End” by Cameron Awkward-Rich
“Hijacked Interiors” by leena aboutaleb
“Untitled” by Nasser Rabah
“Biological Woman” by Chrysanthemum
“When The World Falls in Around You or, Vows to My Palestinian Wife on Our Wedding Day” by Lehua M. Taitano
“Wait Until It Grows Roots” by Tarfia Faizullah
2025 Postcard Poem Exchange Testimonials
“The Postcard Poem Exchange was such an enriching and generative experience. This project gifted me a community to write with and many ideas for larger pieces of writing. What I loved the most was that it encouraged me to see my surroundings in a new light. I discovered poetry and sources of shelter everywhere: in the daily rhythms of my life, walks through the park, conversations with loved ones, and so much more.” - Shirley Cai
“Each day a new canvas, a new confidante, a new surprise. I was gifted with a quiet moment to reflect and gather up what might remain burning at the end of the day.” - Ching-In Chen
Postcards by Charity E. Yoro
This project was supported by the Academy of American Poets.