Cleo Wade is one of several IG poets to combine verse and an upbeat approach to lifePoet and artist Cleo Wade (@cleowade) has made a name for herself with her uplifting Instagram posts, and reassuringly upbeat attitude to life, whatever it throws at her. She recently released a new book, Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life, which contains verses that feed the soul, and encourage self-care. Her positive vibes are regularly regrammed by celebs and publications looking to encourage their followers to look on the bright side of life.
But she's not the only person to have taken advantage of a recent resurgence in the popularity of poetry. Here are our top 7 Instagram poets everyone should be following for a regular dose of feel-good verse.
@rupikaur
Perhaps the most well known of the Instagram poets, the Indian-Canadian 25-year-old is known for writing about love, femininity and immigration, and pairing her verse with hand-drawn illustrations. Her punctuation style is also noteworthy: she only uses lower case letters and no punctuation other than full stops. This is a nod to her heritage: Kaur is of Punjabi origins, and the script used in that language, Gurmukhi, does the same things.
@harrybakerpoet
The British poet, who visited Hong Kong last November, was named 2012 Poetry Slam World Cup Champion - the youngest ever - and counts Ed Sheeran amongst his fans.
@r.h.sin
A New York-based writer, whose real name is Reuben Holmes, is proof that feminism isn't just for females. His poems celebrate women, and encourage men not to be afraid to express emotion. Talk about #heforshe.
@gemmatroypoetry
An especially soothing feed, the Australian incorporates (literal) bits of nature in her daily poetry posts, which touch on love, life, friendship and family.
@rmdrk
With nearly 2 million IG followers, Robert Macias, aka R. M. Drake is proof that good poetry is not just a passing fad.
@makeblackoutpoetry
These feed consists of pages of text (newspaper articles, pages in books, cereal boxes ...) with words blacked out leaving only a poignant poem visible. Inspired (and a fun idea if you need school project inspo).
@wrong.hands
In amongst the single-panel cartoons depicting the trials of modern life are a few limericks summarising classic works of literature. The first one only appeared in February, so we're eagerly awaiting a library's worth of verse!