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# Reading Before the Sun Rises
- URL: https://blog.annabyang.com/reading-before-the-sun-rises/
- Published: 2021-03-01T21:56:21.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-13T08:12:52.000Z
- Description: My #5amwriters club routine includes poetry.
- Author: Anna Burgess Yang
- Tags: Habits & Goals, Writing

### Reading Poetry Before the Sun Rises

For months now, I have been [firmly planted](https://blog.annabyang.com/early-morning-writing/) in the #5amwritersclub camp. Actually, I usually start to stir around 3:30\. By the time I’ve gotten dressed, washed my face, and found my way to the coffee pot, it is more like #4amwritersclub. I sit at the kitchen table with my brew, my journal, my daily planner, and a book of poetry.

For a long time, I have struggled with finding time to read. I used to listen to audiobooks on the way to daycare, but then the pandemic hit, and that daily trek was no longer a thing. By evening, I am far too tired. Sometimes I read in the bathtub, but I have to be in the right frame of mind.

However, I am often inspired by the words of others and wanted to make sure that I was reading every day. I found the time before the sun comes up, before I have started my own writing for the day.

Poetry seemed like a natural fit for my early morning routine. I could embrace poetry in bite-sized portions, committing to reading 15 poems per day. I could read, set it aside, not have to worry that I was leaving off in the middle of a good chapter or exciting scene of a novel.

I started with Lisel Mueller’s “Alive Together: New and Selected Poems.” I let the words flow over me in the morning. Sometimes, I would even read aloud to myself, though under my breath so that I didn’t risk waking other members of the household. After finishing “Alive Together” I have started Lucille Clifton’s “Blessing the Boats.”

It has been an easy, joyous part of my morning routine. I write in my journal. I plan out my day. And I read 15 poems.