your thoughts deserve a decent place to live

From R. Clift, comes her third book of poetry & illustrations - following to feel anything at all & until we meet again (2019). This collection is entirely handwritten, hand-drawn, and hand-typed on her own personal typewriters. This book is very much inspired by her late poetry professor, Arthur Smith, who is pictured on the front cover. He passed away in 2018 from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. R. Clift would not be a poet today if it weren't for him. In his memory, she will be donating a percentage of all profits to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Two years later, this book is a thank you to him, a tribute to him, filled with his last words to her. Each title to every poem in this collection is a fragment of a quote she wrote down in her class notes during his lectures. In these pages you will read about where she came from, those that raised her, catching lightning bugs in glass jars, generations of loss & grief, stumbling towards first loves, running away from heartache, pancakes in Italy, the lessons Art taught her, a sunrise that changed her life- all encompassed to feel nostalgic, warm, and encouraging- like a conversation with someone you love.

This book was written during a few month period of isolation in early 2020, when she had nowhere else to go but deep into memory to find her inspiration. It was an experience altogether new, and it made this book unlike anything R. Clift has ever shared before. This work is a labor of love and vulnerability, now entrusted in your hands, in the hopes that not only will her words reach you, but also those wisdom-filled last words of the man who made this all possible.

Follow her day to day journey at @r.cliftpoetry on Instagram.