English @ SUNY Geneseo | Nicole Pero | Activity https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/members/nmp13/activity/ Activity feed for Nicole Pero. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:23:02 -0500 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-US 30 hourly 2 b2cfd26b859b212a58838062c132e005 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Memoir As Truth-Telling: Orange is the New Black in the group Fact vs. Nonfiction https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/8016/ Sun, 26 Feb 2017 02:38:35 -0500 We’re all aware of the popular Netflix drama, Orange is the New Black, but how many people were interested in the real memoir by Piper Kerman, which the series is based on?  If you look at the book’s sales af […]

]]> 0 01756e753b8f96f02a721f7fb096bbfb Nicole Pero edited the blog post Breaking from Sound in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/5952/ Mon, 23 May 2016 03:04:32 -0500 I think that the hardest part of taking a poetry workshop after just finishing one is the tendency to hold onto the attention to sound.  Last semester’s key or cornerstone was sound: how it paces poems, the way different groupings of sounds can make a line or stanza feel different emotively, etc.  I used a lot of music as inspiration this s…[Read more]

]]> 0 e6bb7ecdf6005fc61de5e48fa4144f08 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Taking Apart: "The Municipal Gum", on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/20/taking-apart-the-municipal-gum/#comment-7594 Tue, 10 May 2016 22:55:42 -0500 Noah,
This poem is sonically gorgeous. The repetition of sounds is so rich and lilting, I feel as if it could be put into song. I really liked how you talked about the feeling of dislocation in this poem, […]

]]> cfdb7deca8281923aad543d9b96e4f58 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Poetry on the Internet, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/08/poetry-on-the-internet-2/#comment-7593 Tue, 10 May 2016 22:47:55 -0500 Mary,
I think you’re right in saying that the move to online databases of poetry has changed the way I read poetry, but I think it is more positive than negative. WhenI would read from a book or collection, it […]

]]> a1e8c1f730554b59374fae83a5131f7d Nicole Pero commented on the post, Revision Rituals, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/09/revision-rituals/#comment-7592 Tue, 10 May 2016 22:42:08 -0500 Rachel,
I do something similar. I pull up the original draft, then copy it into a new file, often adding “revision #whatever,” and then use workshop comments to either tweak an already successful poem or […]

]]> 8d81e7e35de1d25e7f1620384b3ef704 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Walt Whitman on contradiction;, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/10/walt-whitman-on-contradiction/#comment-7591 Tue, 10 May 2016 22:36:36 -0500 DongWon,
I really appreciate this idea about poetic flexibility, because while I believe that poems are fixed in time and (sorry) context, they are also able to be revised and changed based on the poet’s wishes. […]

]]> f54e9efebf92c26e690c8ca666e1507d Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post A Temporary Farewell to the Poetry Workshop in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6476/ Tue, 10 May 2016 22:30:45 -0500 As some of you know, I’m going to be taking the Writing and Production Workshop next semester, which is simultaneously exciting and terrifying.  My first two workshops have been in poetry, and I’m definitely […]

]]> 0 4a40bb0961aaa6a9c616090ce0480687 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Word Obsessions in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6474/ Tue, 10 May 2016 22:11:44 -0500 Looking back at the past two semester’s worth of poems, I realize that a few words keep popping up, over and over: gilt, press, skin, sloughing, etc.  I decided to run my last portfolio through a word counter, […]

]]> 0 9e72ed9198316b605e130f5317039632 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Found Poems and Copyright in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6473/ Tue, 10 May 2016 21:41:40 -0500 As an English major, formerly a lit major, I sometimes wonder as to the morality of found poems and blackout/whiteout poems.  In scholarly work, we’re encouraged to cite the works we pull from, as well as credit […]

]]> 0 a4c3c66904e3346dcc2c7b5bb7b4216a Nicole Pero commented on the post, Cool Places for Poets to Share!, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/08/cool-places-for-poets-to-share/#comment-7585 Mon, 09 May 2016 02:39:39 -0500 I’m not really sure, to be honest. I could shoot her an e-mail, I suppose!

]]> cf147b88d12e475c943287f2fd11736a Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Nicole's Nonsensical Revision Cycle in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6455/ Mon, 09 May 2016 02:35:38 -0500 And here I go about revisions again.  I’ve been looking over this semester’s poetry, plus a few oldies, and I find myself going from radical revisions to writing completely new poems, based on the older poems I’m […]

]]> 0 6bc2cd751e0eacbdb1f59997b99a97f7 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Tyehimba Jess's "Mercy" and Politics in Poetry in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6454/ Mon, 09 May 2016 02:20:25 -0500 I spent some time recently reading and re-reading a few poems by Tyehimba Jess, whose unbelievably precise yet playful mastery of sound really brings something to life in me.  If you want to feel simultaneously […]

]]> 0 987332539d489d21d7afd8c099006790 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Google Poetics, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/08/google-poetics/#comment-7584 Mon, 09 May 2016 02:01:37 -0500 “Sleeping”

Sleeping Beauty, sleeping with other people, sleeping pills.
sleeping with the enemy, sleeping on your left side,
sleeping disorders, sleeping to dream,
sleeping in Spanish, sleeping Venus.

I […]

]]> c1a3b86d7fe5880b5eff0fa2a582da1a Nicole Pero commented on the post, Shakespeare, Anyone?, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/21/shakespeare-anyone/#comment-7575 Sun, 08 May 2016 04:43:31 -0500 Rachel,
I think I exist somewhere between you and the disgruntled Shakespearian student. I picked up Romeo and Juliet for fun in fifth grade, and while I definitely lacked some of the knowledge that makes […]

]]> a8c9d07aff519ebfdc5bea874e7d3bbd Nicole Pero commented on the post, Poetics of Trauma, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/27/poetics-of-trauma/#comment-7574 Sun, 08 May 2016 04:37:45 -0500 Will,
I think that what’s important when allowing your poetry to speak about trauma is to let voices that are less privileged than your own speak above you. Your experience at a Trump rally might be scary for […]

]]> fa20a7567ab1b3131a97daabe996ce91 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Ecstatic about Ekphrastic!, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/27/ecstatic-about-ekphrastic/#comment-7573 Sun, 08 May 2016 04:29:30 -0500 Rachel, here’s a bit of a poem I’ve started based on the second image:

a torch passed over the water sputters and while my fingers skim the oily film,
gutters out. unruly fish send bubbles up my way, and I […]

]]> 78439df9855609deaa336cba9bf1d02a Nicole Pero commented on the post, Fragmentation, Distillation, Transformation: How much context do we need?, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/04/fragmentation-distillation-transformation-how-much-context-do-we-need/#comment-7572 Sun, 08 May 2016 04:24:10 -0500 Gabi,
I’m with you. While I do sometimes feel that a poem that presents itself as a kind of narrative requires some context, I don’t think that a poem’s context should dominate the conversation about that poem. […]

]]> ce89fc6b6393a4f38905f95b44f036a6 Nicole Pero commented on the post, On Performing Poetry and Authorial Intent, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/04/on-performing-poetry-and-authorial-intent/#comment-7570 Sun, 08 May 2016 04:18:47 -0500 Rachel,
I totally agree. I usually have a theme or feeling in mind as I write a poem, but if that doesn’t directly translate to the reader, I’m okay with it. I want my words to reach people, and maybe change […]

]]> 69d9e777b2970725fcce8a5512f75b4c Nicole Pero commented on the post, Teaching Poetry?, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/06/teaching-poetry/#comment-7568 Sun, 08 May 2016 04:15:00 -0500 Gabi,
I really like how you included Tupac as a poet because I think that if we’re going to continue as ambassadors of poetry, we need to look to the words of those who have been silenced as well as those who […]

]]> 072c1ef95e325f94e01c9745a2f503d0 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Trying Black Out Poetry, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/05/06/trying-black-out-poetry/#comment-7567 Sun, 08 May 2016 04:09:44 -0500 Gabi,
This poem is really gorgeous, and while I want to try out something similar, I’m totally terrified of defacing a book I’ve spent good money on! Maybe I can dig through and destroy a book from Humanities […]

]]> 561ab0ebe8f50be8833a5c40b0f191cd Nicole Pero edited the blog post Cool Places for Poets to Share! in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6432/ Sun, 08 May 2016 04:05:51 -0500 As everyone knows, I’m a huge Mary Lambert fan.  Her music is poetry, but her poetry is so transcendent and beautiful I just want to bathe in a ceramic tub full of it.  She’s also a wonderful lady, and I want to share her poetry blog with you!  Every week, she does different themed days and shares poetry she receives in the form of submissions, an…[Read more]

]]> 0 fb7e21c10c69cb307d14673a455096e7 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Service Job Poetics in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6431/ Sun, 08 May 2016 03:48:46 -0500 I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the issues that exist within the service industry, particularly the ways in which class and race intersect in workplaces where the employees make minimum wage, or close to […]

]]> 0 1af4229e30d19429968e6aef7e884343 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Can Multilingual Poetry be Based on Sound? in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6425/ Sat, 07 May 2016 00:20:36 -0500 I’ve been listening to a lot of music in languages I’m not fluent in lately, and I’ve been spending time wondering about poetry that uses language the author isn’t fluent in.  Is it enough to value the language […]

]]> 0 9cde0b773c03c5779fae29810fbd26ac Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Poetry Prompt: Define Your Own Word in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6422/ Fri, 06 May 2016 23:44:49 -0500 Hey everybody, I thought I’d share a writing prompt for those of us that are looking for creative ways to fill up our portfolios!  I, personally, have a lot of made-up words unique to me that float around in my […]

]]> 0 72735d99957b95d40ac267243f052a67 Nicole Pero edited the blog post "Occult" by Joyce Carol Oates in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6323/ Wed, 20 Apr 2016 03:54:27 -0500 Hey everyone, I’ve been on a Joyce Carol Oates kick, and I recently happened upon her poem “Occult,” but I’m wondering what everyone else’s readings of this poem are? It’s kind of blurry, but I really want to see what other people are reading from this poem. (the /s are my addition, the post won’t put the stanza breaks in correctly).
Occult
BY JO…[Read more]

]]> 0 e8a6a5dc4f888cbd999dc856a8fc0976 Nicole Pero commented on the post, The Anxiety to Post about Poetry, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/19/the-anxiety-to-post-about-poetry/#comment-7452 Wed, 20 Apr 2016 01:09:16 -0500 Gabi,
I totally agree, I don’t think that artists require any kind of credentials, or some piece of paper proving that they went to school for their art. Yes, knowing about the history of your art is important, […]

]]> e6039aeb12d9fc45479b3fe77f1d52d4 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Writing Prompt: Song Lyrics in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6312/ Mon, 18 Apr 2016 06:07:23 -0500 Alright, everyone, here’s a quick prompt that’s pretty self-explanatory: include a favorite song lyric in the first line of a poem.  I’m fighting with taking lines out of their original context, and I thought […]

]]> 0 f6484d4725c78c32090fa68e29229ffe Nicole Pero commented on the post, The Death of Joy Gardner and the Power of Language, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/06/the-death-of-joy-gardner-and-the-power-of-language/#comment-7446 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 05:22:53 -0500 Amanda,
I think that the way poetry is allowed to be biased, sometimes brutally so, is one of its strengths. I feel like poetry is one of the least pedantic forms of writing, and that it is (sorry) accessible to […]

]]> 15776ec50d9d6e8b163c65915f861046 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Poetry and Shape, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/10/poetry-and-shape/#comment-7445 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 05:06:11 -0500 Rachel,
Personally, I think that shape poetry tends to limit the writer to one concrete topic, because the reader is so aware of the visual shape of the poem. I haven’t ever really seen a shape poem I’ve liked, […]

]]> 3f981ee53ff0c9722ecc8793eafb516f Nicole Pero commented on the post, Poetry for an audience, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/15/poetry-for-an-audience/#comment-7444 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 05:01:34 -0500 DongWon,
I think that the way your poem conjures up multiple images is one of its strengths. I personally consider it a victory if there are a few readings other than my own personal intent when I write for […]

]]> 090b930c69ecba6e50241e4220adb88f Nicole Pero commented on the post, Author versus Speaker, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/15/author-versus-speaker/#comment-7443 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 04:56:58 -0500 Oliver,
While I agree with your post on a basic level, I don’t think that writers can ever really divorce themselves completely from the subjects or characters they’ve created. We do a great disservice to the […]

]]> cd719f70230de1e0128738ad359ec513 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Cecily Parks and Environmental Sociology, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/19/cecily-parks-and-environmental-sociology/#comment-7442 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 04:49:57 -0500 Mary,
I really like the way you’re interpreting Parks’ poetry, because I found myself noting her love of nature, but not being able to pick up on the disconnection. Cecily Parks is expressing a kind of lament […]

]]> 0bb8c0f767e10f1e3cf6d95847b94240 Nicole Pero commented on the post, A Fear of Poetry, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/24/a-fear-of-poetry/#comment-7441 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 04:39:26 -0500 Rachel,
I definitely understand where you’re coming from! As a high school student, I really hated poetry, mostly because I wasn’t being introduced to the kinds of poets that I wanted to see. I remember reading […]

]]> 7d08217f078cfae539177f84d1e3a3f4 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Jayne Thompson and "Letters to My Younger Self", on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/24/jayne-thompson-and-letters-to-my-younger-self/#comment-7440 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 04:33:07 -0500 Amanda,
Now I really wish I attended this! I think that she’s doing some immense good by allowing the voices of those who are most often silenced to be heard, and I think it would be interesting to hear not only […]

]]> 1b335afaa6e33c86798690b30d5307d0 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Frank O'Hara's "Animals," Abstract vs. Concrete, and the Universal, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/27/frank-oharas-animals-abstract-vs-concrete-and-the-universal/#comment-7439 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 04:03:04 -0500 Oliver,
Thanks for the analysis! I never really notice the ways that abstract language can play with more concrete idioms, I tend to err on the side of “no abstractions unless absolutely necessary” because most […]

]]> 7c2080f4375b57ad1a8add1c221c3a79 Nicole Pero commented on the post, what is poetry?, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/28/what-is-poetry/#comment-7438 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 02:19:12 -0500 Sara,
I definitely agree that the question “what is poetry?” always leaves a bad taste in my mouth–it’s too formulaic, and it makes me feel like no matter what my definition is, it’s wrong. However, I don’t […]

]]> ec5577c3f2826b13e39cf9e9e23cecc9 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Fixations of Inspiration, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/03/30/fixations-of-inspiration/#comment-7437 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 02:12:22 -0500 Rachel,
I am 100% with you. I think that poetry is and should be about the self, and the readership who can connect with your poetry is just a bonus. Sometimes, the poet writes to seek an audience, but I think […]

]]> 51f420546a05877cf28f60dbc0eb5c5e Nicole Pero commented on the post, Snow in April, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/05/snow-in-april/#comment-7436 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 02:01:47 -0500 Amanda, I think what I admire about this poem is the homey, comfortable quality of the language. Jam jars and toast are pretty cozy words, and I think that the death of the “you” is exaggerated by his marked […]

]]> 98da9e9c3acb6432e29368cf86d3c134 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Spotlight: Reginald Shepherd, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/14/spotlight-reginald-shepherd/#comment-7435 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 01:33:26 -0500 Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll definitely take a look! The poem you shared really plays with contrasts: light and dark, loud noises and quiet, etc. The bird imagery, especially, is really fresh and jarring.

]]> 175c546de1de7a89aa303393a4a889c6 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Camille Rankine's "Symptoms of Doctrine" and Re-Working Film Content in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6299/ Mon, 18 Apr 2016 01:27:40 -0500 When I attended Camille Rankine’s reading this past week, I distinctly remember her talking about watching The Avengers, and how one of the lines stuck with her, while the movie didn’t.  She used Loki’s “I am bu […]

]]> 0 de78ab44b1ed4a80acc895f13e52e140 Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post For Yet Another Semester, Nicole Talks About the Revision Process in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6291/ Wed, 13 Apr 2016 04:51:55 -0500 As I sit here, hunched over my laptop and downing mugs of lemon ginger tea, I’m trying to procrastinate on revising my poem.  I’ve opened the poem multiple times, only to close the file and do other work.  My p […]

]]> 0 840c3f0d161ddc0457db0dc97751ac0c Nicole Pero commented on the post, Peace Poetry and Play, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/07/peace-poetry-and-play/#comment-7416 Mon, 11 Apr 2016 04:00:07 -0500 Mary,
I know what you mean! I always felt like poetry in school was more of a chore than something I enjoyed reading or writing, and I think you could extend this to think about the ways we teach poetry in […]

]]> 4a0f1b23d28ffc6a38c8dace9f395749 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Process, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/07/process/#comment-7415 Mon, 11 Apr 2016 03:00:15 -0500 My process is usually pretty standard; I light a candle or some incense so that I can kind of relax from what work I normally do for classes, I take up a comfortable position, maybe hanging out with one of my rats […]

]]> 0c48e96a7fda03c5b31dea98308479f0 Nicole Pero commented on the post, On AWP, Genre-Crossing, and Flash Fiction, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/08/on-awp-genre-crossing-and-flash-fiction/#comment-7414 Mon, 11 Apr 2016 02:56:18 -0500 Personally, I don’t know a lot about the craft of writing flash fiction, and I’m not super inclined to write fiction, but I do believe that some of the best writing is what takes the best from other genres, other […]

]]> 6f0e2145207d28ac57deaca41e3c6f26 Nicole Pero commented on the post, ESL & Myung Mi Kim, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2016/04/10/esl-myung-mi-kim/#comment-7413 Mon, 11 Apr 2016 02:50:23 -0500 I think that we should definitely be discussing multilingual poetry, because it ties into a world larger than our workshop, where maybe multilingual poetry is helping someone else. I think that if a poem speaks […]

]]> 6d27b094eccac7c500d10ad11b29a91a Nicole Pero wrote a new blog post Mallary M's "Birds & Bees" in the group The Contemporary Poem https://sunygeneseoenglish.org/activity/p/6284/ Mon, 11 Apr 2016 02:33:54 -0500 As a poet, I’ve always been looking for new ways to steep myself in poetry, but sometimes it’s hard to fit poetry into my everyday.  The Button Poetry channel on YouTube makes it easy, because they post live […]

]]> 0 dc04a027054209fe68a6ae160b9d92f4 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Writing Exercise When You Need a Study Break!, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2015/12/12/writing-exercise-when-you-need-a-study-break/comment-page-1/#comment-6988 Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:48:03 -0500 I thought I’d share my results:
WMST 100

In Bastard out of Carolina I find:
bleak summer dirt roads
shady wraparound porches
sweet iced tea turned sour with citrus
trawling hook sexual freedom
bleeding […]

]]> 68091b1dd82b7ffbd991636c6799d6f6 Nicole Pero commented on the post, On Finding a Title, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2015/12/13/on-finding-a-title/comment-page-1/#comment-6987 Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:39:02 -0500 My titles are usually the central focus or crux of my poems. I like to be very abstract in the body of my poems so that, without leading the reader with the title, they can reach multiple interpretations. I want […]

]]> 22d48f2530723db979b02a793e4820a3 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Revision Idea, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2015/12/14/revision-idea/comment-page-1/#comment-6986 Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:30:00 -0500 Christy,
I think it’s pretty funny that my revising process is almost the complete opposite; I like to add as much as I can to the poem before I start deleting redundancies. I want to make sure that my poem is […]

]]> 53107e21d529065b90fa9077b9f5e6a9 Nicole Pero commented on the post, Inspiration, on the site The Contemporary Poem http://cpoem.sunygeneseoenglish.org/2015/12/14/inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-6985 Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:23:26 -0500 I think that the things that inspire us are often the things we need to work through. I spend a lot of time in my poetry talking about struggles with depression, which I sometimes feel is cliche or overused, but […]

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