“The Best Season?” a small talkin’ one-minute love poem

Three slides of a short 1-minute mobile video for the poem “The Best Season?” by NG Swett, Outer Lands Archipelago / NY poet

This is the 1:09sec video for posting “The Best Season?” love poem from HOLD ME TIGHT poetry book.
The video and the individual slides (pngs) are for posting on social media platforms with links back here to this website at 4seasonshelf.com.
Audio is added on each platform to avoid copyright issues.

What is YOUR favorite season
-- winter, spring, summer or fall?

Here's a nice and easy one-minute short poem about a great small talk topic. Everyone cares about the seasons and the weather!

Small talk is a lost art, isn’t it? People are so shy and wary of talking to strangers. When you’re at the front desk, as I’ve been from time to time over the years, small talk is perfect for engaging with people. It’s friendly but not nosy.

People feel nostalgic for the seasons and what special things each season brings to life. Changes, cycles and transitions are in our human nature.

About this poem

The short rhyming poem, "The Best Season?", is one from my new collection of 36 poems, HOLD ME TIGHT (link to buy internationally). The book is available in hard cover and ebook formats. It’s gorgeous if I do say so myself. I love it!

Have you ever made a book? Or would you like to? It’s quite a journey, and I share it on this blog and in my enewsletter.

Minimalist aesthetic photo illustration

The poem is Illustrated here and in the book with a black and white photo of a flowering spring daffodil for a contemporary minimalist aesthetic.

In the book, each of the 36 poems shares a two-page spread with its own minimalist black and white photo collage illustration.

How did I make the book? People have been asking me, and I share all the details here in a blog post all about making and publishing the love poetry book. Here is the cover:

I’m experimenting with short mobile videos like the one above for sharing poems, blog posts and new paintings online.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

~ Nan

P.S. I invite you to keep in touch by subscribing to my email list.

~ Headquarters of 4seasonshelf and home to the New York poet NG Swett ~

The Outer Lands Archipelago is made up of all of the ancient islands along the East Coast created 30,000 years ago during the last Ice Age when the Labrador Glacier was halted by the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

The islands of the archipelago include New York’s Long Island, Block Island, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and many other stunning islands.

Love in the air in New York

Love, walking & poetry trending as New York poet publishes book of love poetry

Did you know? Brand new studies say New York is now a top LOVE capitol of America? And most walkable too!

And poetry is red hot in 2024.

Lucky accident! Serendipity! What better time for a New York poet to release a brand new collection of love poetry than during a national love fest for New York?

Oh yes indeed, here are some great trends to hop on for getting the word out about my new book of love poems, HOLD ME TIGHT: 36 stories in short poetic rhymes about love and loss in modern times (blog post about writing and making the book).

More below about how to jump on a trend.

(What about you? Are you working on a project that’s related to any current trends?)

Walkability, Romance Trending in New York

According to one study, New York City is the #1 most walkable city in America, and according to another one New York is the second most romantic state in America.

Walkability

At first, I was surprised to see the Big Apple ranked #1 most walkable city in America*. But think about it. You don't need a car to get around town. There are sidewalks, parks and bike paths everywhere. The walking grid of streets is easy and always interesting. Lovers can easily stroll up and down the town. And what a big, big town it is.

Walkability is a growing smart trend connecting some key groups of people including families, young adults, Gen Z, price-conscious people, millennials, seniors, visitors, tourists, workers, and New York locals — basically for everyone. Walking can help keep us healthy and fit. Owning cars has become too expensive and too much of a hassle. Even public transportation can be too expensive. Walking and biking are better for the environment. A nice stroll is a good activity for getting out of the house for our mental health.

Here are the top 10 walkable metro areas according to the study:

Most walkable cities in America are:

1. New York City

2. Boston

3. Washington, D.C.

4. Seattle

5. Portland

6. San Francisco

7. Chicago

8. Los Angeles

9. Pittsburgh

10. Philadelphia

    * Study by Smart Growth America

I Love NY — the Romance

According to another new study**, New York is the second (2nd) most romantic state in the nation as measured by Valentine's enthusiasm (and spending) data. Wow! Gotta love New York.

Only second place? We try harder! LOL.

From the study here are America's top 10 most romantic states:

Most romantic states

1. Massachusetts

2. New York

3. New Jersey

4. Virginia

5. North Carolina

6. Maryland

7. Florida

8. Georgia

9. Connecticut

10. Colorado

**Study by JeffBett

But hey, no need to spend the most. The moon and the stars are free. Go for a romantic stroll.

Enter new book of love poems by New York poet

Love is in the air in New York!

I caught wind of it last summer when the sky was yellow and out of the blue wrote a book of 36 love poems. I self published the collection, and I'm slowly getting it out into the big old world. (Blog post about making the book.)

(Thanks so much for your encouragement. You know who you are! XO)

Poetry is trending, too.

All kinds of poetry — the good, the bad, and everything in between. I’ve done some market research, and poetry is hot right now. I don’t know how long it will last, but hopefully forever. It is also all over social media.

Poetry is a powerful, elegant, fun and expressive way to describe the world. This first book of poetry was fun to write, edit, format and self publish.

In Hold Me Tight, I tried many kinds of poetry formats from traditional rhyming poems to limerick and haiku, rap to free verse. The nature of the poem’s message and tone was a key piece of which kind of poem I used.

In the poems, I talk about the blind elation of falling in love, the wedding, the lovers spat, the love for children, the courtship dates, the building of a life together, the love of neighbors, artificial intelligence and good friends — and more. And toward the end, I indulge in some strident poetic justice type of topics which may or may not have anything to do with love.

Each of the 26 poems is formatted in a two-page spread with a black and white photo collage illustration. The style is minimalist and modern.

The type is large, and the poems are short. Brevity is a superpower IMHO.

Example of Using Trends

It's good to always be looking for trends to latch onto for key words and searchability and relevance. These NY headlines could be a godsend. It’s worth a try at least.

How to use all this lovely New York news about romance and walking in an announcement about the release of HOLD ME TIGHT (global bookstore links)? Maybe something like:

"As New York strolls in as the smart new cosmopolitan capital of romance and walkability, contemporary New York poet NG Swett gives voice to the moment with a collection of fresh new love poems."

(Too long; needs editing, I know.)

"Love is in the air as New York poet releases collection of new poems..."

or

"New York poet captures a moment with love poetry collection..."

I'll sleep on it.

Maybe I’ll make a blog post about it and make some social media posts... Haha

February 1st*** Update:
Sample New York love video with love poem

Doing my own stunts over here haha! Sharing with you in case it helps.

In an attempt to pull the above trends together and tie them to my new book of love poems, I made the vertical mobile video below.

I made it in Canva and uploaded it to the 4seasonshelf YouTube channel.

And I’m uploading the video as a pin on Pinterest.

So far, all this is done on my desktop.

Uploading to social media next, I’ll use my phone. First I’ll get the video onto my phone and upload it to other social media channels: Instagram, Threads, TikTok. That shouldn’t take more than an hour. I’ll compose the description starting with what I used on YouTube, adapting for each platform, and adding hashtags and audio soundtrack of some kind, like city sounds.

This video runs for a minute. In the next one, I’ll probably add in an analogue

clock showing one minute elapsing along with the hashtag #newyorkminute which might give people a sense of time being more spacious than we think and also to highlight the fact that the poems in HOLD ME TIGHT are short and accessible. I have at least three more similar designs lined up and ready to roll.

*** February 1 is too late to try to start ranking on search engines for anything. On the other hand, maybe we’ll show up in searches as we get closer to St. Valentine’s Day, spring romance, weddings, anniversaries, and who knows maybe even more good news about New York!

Book of love poetry as a gift?

HOLD ME TIGHT is available internationally in hard cover and ebook. Each of the 36 love poems in this new collection of love poetry by New York poet NG Swett is short and is illustrated with a black and white photo collage in a modern minimalist aesthetic.

A book of love poetry is a romantic gift for any occasion — a lovers stroll, Valentine’s Day, springtime romance, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and engagements.

Treat yourself to some poetic inspiration! It’s perfect reading for coffee cafe lounging and people watching.

The poems are about love, relationships, falling in love, everyday love, long term love, love of children, self love, reflections on the world at large, declarations, city life and country life.

#shelfie #4seasonshelf

What's on the shelf today?

On the shelf today are early indoor planting stuff…

• seed packets

• pen & ink sketches of seed packets

• herbs in faux terracotta window planter (indoors)

• clean plastic containers for planting seeds

It's springtime, and the garden adventure begins again here in the Outer Lands Archipelago.

We still have a while until we can plant outdoors, except for certain crops that like colder temps, such as leafy greens, peas, etc., which don’t mind a little frost.

Farmstand Update: What’s In Season

It’s the end of March, and most local farmstands have only one thing as of yet: firewood (see below). But before you know it, you'll see early crops start to come in like rhubarb, asparagus, horseradish and many more bittersweet lovelies. Local chickens are already laying eggs. And fresh daffodils!

Local farm stand with firewood in early spring empty shelves.

~ Nan

P.S. The #SHELFIE short video above is part of the #100daychallenge and will be uploaded to the 4seasonshelf constellation of social media. I created it in Canva, downloaded it, and will send it up to each platform. I’ll also add gameshow sounds on those platforms because it’d be fun. Find and follow @4seasonshelf on your favorite platform!

Day 3 of #100daychallenge: already in trouble…

Creating a short video and posting it online each day takes me hours. But that’s what I decided to do for the official #100daychallenge starting on Feb 22.

With barely a plan, you won’t be surprised to find out that I’m already in trouble.

I’m working on a video about coloring in one page of one of my coloring books. I quickly found myself under a mountain of material that will take more time than I have for today to make something with.

So I thought today’s short video would be about finding oneself already behind the eight ball on Day 3 of a 100-day challenge.

On the plus side, I’m learning a lot. I’ve got to get faster and better at using the tech involved while trying to saying something.

Here’s today’s short video, which is also going on the 4seasonshelf YouTube channel and Instagram.

~ Nan

Hundred day challenge: daily video?

Today, I finished getting dressed when I got the idea to make a short video about my socks and shoes.

I need the practice. Not practice putting on my shoes, making videos! esp with myself in the shot.

Well, here's the video:

I mean, yes, critics gonna critique, and they're not wrong, but I'm just putting my dumb ass out there.

Since I need to do more of this kind of thing, and since the #100daychallenge starts today, and since a good challenge helps motivate me, I'm making content and uploading it for 100 days.

Will my 100th be any better than my 1st? Let's hope so.

~ Nan