Poetry helps us tell better stories: My Father’s Mustache by Ada Limón
When you’re trying to connect with your target audience using brand storytelling, every word has to work – and work hard. Poets teach us this better than anyone, demonstrating how to impact the reader with subtly different choices of language. As a creative copywriter, I reach for my poetry books almost every day.
Imagine a poem as a library. Every line of that poem is a shelf, every word is a book on that shelf, and inside every one of those ‘books’ (words) is an epic story. The same goes for the editorial, marketing, PR and communications content your organisation produces - every word carries meaning far beyond its shape on the page.
Words are a force of nature
Language is potent - every single word has its own unique energy – so effective communication demands an understanding and appreciation of that power. Harnessed in the right way, it can allow us to create more fluent and persuasive written content.
I’ve studied poetry for a number of years - at university, as well as with The Poetry School and The Poetry Society. That’s gifted me with the tools to approach creative copywriting projects with a more skillful grasp of language.
Add some poetry to your communications toolkit
By sharing poems here on regular basis, I hope you’ll be as inspired by them as I am – and maybe even start to consider poetry as part of your own communications development toolkit.
Where better to start than with a poem from one of my favourite poets, Ada Limón? Ada Limón is Mexican-American poet and the first Latina to be Poet Laureate of the United States. I recently discovered she actually used to work in marketing at Condé Nast before she was a poet. Limón was named as one of Time magazine's 12 Women of the Year in 2024, each of them chosen for being "extraordinary leaders who are working toward a more equal world”.
She has written some children’s books, as well as many collections of poetry including Bright Dead Things, The Carrying, Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees, and The Hurting Kind, from which this poem is taken.
My Father’s Mustache, Ada Limón (2022). Taken from The Hurting Kind, published by Milkweed Editions. Photograph by Kelly Cummins.
My Father’s Mustache by Ada Limón
Let us pause to applaud the white bell-bottom suit,
the wide flared collar, the black thick-coiffed hair
in this photo my father has sent of himself
at a gathering off Sonoma Highway in the early ’70s.
I can’t stop looking at the photo. There is a swagger
that feels almost otherworldly, epic, like Lorca
expounding in Buenos Aires, Not the form
but the marrow of form. He is perfect there, my father
in the photo. I feel somehow as if I’m perched on a bay laurel
branch nearby though not born yet. It’s in black and white, the photo.
You can see his grin behind his lush mustache. Is it time
that moves in me now? A sense of ache and unraveling,
my father in his pristine white suit, the eye of the world barely able
to handle his smooth unbroken stride. It’s been a year
since I’ve seen him in person, I miss how he points
to his apple trees and I miss his smooth face
that no longer has the mustache I always adored.
As a child I once cried when he shaved it. Even then,
I was too attached to this life.
Poems offer us a masterclass in storytelling
Most poems tell stories in miniature (and sometimes not so miniature) form, and this one is no exception. So much is thoughtfully conveyed in relatively few words, because each word is so meticulously selected - and elegantly placed.
Copywriters and storytellers can learn a lot from poetry, and I become more inspired with every bit of verse I read. Perhaps poetry will spark ideas in you too.
Let’s wax poetic about your brand and begin putting some words together. Book a discovery call with me and we’ll have a chat about your copywriting requirements and how I can help your business create more eloquent content and communications.