If You're A Pisces, Here's The Poetry Collection You Should Read

Ruled by Neptune, Pisces are the old souls and dreams of the zodiac. They're the people who seem like they were born already knowing everything. This might be because they were; according to Allure, Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and absorbs all of the lessons the other zodiac signs already learned. Empathy is their strength and their weakness no matter if Pisces is their sun, moon, or rising sign.

Perhaps this is why InStyle calls Pisces the "obvious creatives of the zodiac." Chances are, not only are you full of feelings, but you're a master of self-expression — when you can turn your reflective insight inward. Creativity is your calling; when they can sink into art, they create masterpieces. Just look at the work of famous writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, William Gibson, Sally Rooney, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

The only problem, Co-Star Astrology warns, is that Pisces can be hard people to peg down; the boundaries of their identities are as porous as a sea sponge. As great mirrors as they make for other people, they have a hard time being able to reflect on themselves. These writers were able to defy their Piscean nature and find clear voices of their own. Let them inspire you to turn down the volume on the rest of the world and focus on figuring out who you are. We've found poetry collections fitting for readers with their sun, moon, or rising sign in Pisces to help get you started.

The symbol for Pisces, Allure explains, is "two fish swimming in opposite directions," with each fish representing fantasy and reality, and a Pisces pull between them. Fantasy, dream worlds, magic — these are all Pisces domains, where they shine and can sometimes find themselves stuck.

But you should consider these traits a strength, not a weakness, if you're a solar Pisces (via Co-Star Astrology). Softness is a little-celebrated quality, one that makes it easier for you to understand and empathize. With Pisces' close psychic connection to the emotional collective of humanity, they'd benefit from reading "The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us From the Void" by Jackie Wang.

NPR Morning Edition explains that Wang explores "how social processes and traumas show up in our dreams" in her poetry collection (via Bookshop). The Los Angeles Review of Books goes further, adding that the poems "center on the sociality of dreams," the romance and horror of "tenderness of being with others" juxtaposed with "dreaming as a response to [the] endless crisis" we face in reality. 

If your sun is in Pisces, dreaming probably already seems like a communal activity, something you do while awake. It's why you'll appreciate Wang's argument that living in this dream world is "not merely personal or aesthetic but political," per The Nation. Dreaming, her poetry collection argues, can be your way of fighting back.

In order to get a full picture of what makes up who you are, astrologers say you need to look at a complete birth chart and not just your sun sign, per Allure. Your moon sign, for instance, provides a map of your internal world, the key to understanding your emotional landscape. If your moon sits in Pisces, AstroStyle says that rulers Neptune and water are to thank for your rich fantasy life and ever-changing emotions.

But too often you're getting caught up in other people's emotions and forgetting about healthy outlets for processing them. Art is a language you were born speaking fluently and one you often forget. That's why you need to read "Glass Bikini" by Kristen Bock.

Described by Electric Literature as "surrealist," this poetry collection "explores dystopian dreamscapes, myths, and spells." Lisa Lowe adds in her review for The Cleveland Review of Books that "Glass Bikini" reads "like distortions of surreal and chilling dreams" that stack "like a Russian Doll with its terrifying little self-intimidating self found inside itself, over and over again."

In her review for Harpy Hybrid Review, Cheryl Passanisi, says art is not gone, "art is extinct" in this hellscape Bock has created. These poems offer a "postmodern analysis of human cruelty," looking at the car accident everyone else is looking away from. Witness the accident and find a way to create your own art from it, before it's too late.

Your rising sign, Live About explains, is the face you show to the world. Mask, though, is probably the better word for you if your rising sign is Pisces. You easily give up your identity to make way for bigger personalities, losing yourself in the process. 

Despite being what AstroStyle calls a "die-hard romantic," you probably steer clear of long-term commitments because of your fear of losing yourself. The fantasy world of what it could be is far safer than reality, and way more in your control. To help inspire the courage to own who you are, we recommend reading Yrsa Daley-Ward's poetry collection, "Bone."

Called by Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine a "glorious living thing," Daley-Ward's collection explores feeling and what it means to be human, per Bookshop. According to Book Riot, "Bone" tries to answer the question of whether it's possible to pull yourself out of grief and depression, or how "to put up a brave front in the face of loss" all while living in Britain as a Black woman.

In their review, The Guardian explains that the collection explores Daley-Ward's "religious upbringing, duality, and mental-health battles" in a way they call "candid" and "visceral." You won't be able to ignore the way Daley-Ward defines herself, shines a mirror on herself and shows it back to the world. It's the kind of energy Pisces risings need if they're going to stay afloat.