Read A Little Poem

"One of my favourite writers, T. De Los Reyes, or just Tee to those who love her, keeps me on the edge of my seat waiting for her next piece. Her words are not elegant or particularly inspiring. They just are, they just be. Honest, brave and free."

- by Naledi Biyela

Something Small:

I've been reading Read A Little Poetry for about seven years; an amazing archive of poems collected over the years. Its curator, T. De Los Reyes, painstakingly selects and shares each poem, along with her own delightful and gut-wrenching commentary. 

In 2021, when I felt stuck in my own writing and purpose, I leaned on the Read A Little Poetry newsletter that filled my inbox everyday. Then T mysteriously went on hiatus in August. A month went by with no new poems, so naturally, I wrote her a letter. 

It was a feverish, fluffy letter I sent around 4am. I never received a response, but I didn't need one. I'd written it for myself as much as for her. Anyway, I forgot all about it. 

Cut to almost four years later... When I received an email from one T. De Los Reyes, addressed to me personally. "A Little Letter About An Old Letter". I was, what? Thrilled? Incredulous? Starstruck? Yep, all of the above. Tee thanked me for my letter, saying it had impacted her as deeply as it had me. Furthermore, the 20th anniversary for Read A Little Poetry was coming up, and she asked my permission to feature my old letter (with revisions). 

It was this tiny thing. This blip in the cosmic space, but it told me that nothing, no act of kindness or moment of connection goes to waste. I shoved down the whisper that this was not an achievement. It was better. It couldn't be measured or counted, found wanting. It was mine. 

I had pored over T's blog through the years, and it inspired my own blog in many ways... And now my words had made it all the way to her, and would forever be immortalised on her webpage. I don’t even have the space to keep this delight. It will remain with me in my bones, all my life.