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

Taurus is the lighthouse of the zodiac. They're who we look to protect us from danger, who are always steadfast even in the worst storms. Consistency is their key trait and, just like an old lighthouse, can be unmovable (via Co-Star Astrology). But just because they're good at weathering storms doesn't mean Taureans enjoy the chaos that comes with them. Being everyone's rock sometimes means self-care gets neglected, let alone feeling like you've done enough to earn the space you take up.

But if there's anyone who knows exactly how to pamper someone else, it's you. No matter if their sun, moon, or rising sign is in Taurus, Allure explains that pampering other people is when Taureans feel their best. They know exactly how to cook your favorite comfort meal and draw the perfect bath, complete with candles and essential oils for relaxation.

Changing up your routines, however, is something that terrifies Taureans. Symbolized by the bull, you're every bit as stubborn as your mascot suggests, which makes it hard to get you to add more you-time into your schedule, especially once you get comfortable taking care of everyone else. We're challenging you to push against the idea that you can only find comfort from comforting other people and remember that making time for you can give you just as much fulfillment. Don't worry, we've made this whole relaxation thing easy; keep reading for your personalized poetry recommendation, meant to inspire courage in the face of change.

For those born with their sun in Taurus, InStyle explains that understanding their role in society — both on the micro-scale of the hive of their home or in the bigger picture of humanity — is their favorite obsession. Loyal almost to a fault, Allure warns they can have a hard time deviating from their prescribed role in every aspect of their life.

With everything changing so fast these days, solar Taureans especially have been on edge. During a recent press conference, actor Timothée Chalamet translated the fear into words, admitting he felt the scent of "societal collapse is in the air." This is probably a particular existential anxiety you've been feeling for a while and one Amanda Moore explores in her award-winning poetry collection, "Requeening."

When they announced "Requeening" the winner of their 2020 Open Competition, the National Poetry Series described Moore's collection as one that doesn't "shy away from the inevitability of a hive's collapse." Moore uses the hive as a stand-in for our society and ourselves — both of which have an expiration date. Moore even acknowledges the death of what it originally meant to be someone's daughter as she's aged and become a mother herself.

The Harvard Review added in their review that "Requeening" is "its own flight of the bumblebee" that "takes us on multiple odyssey's: from birth to adulthood, bloom to collapse, beloved home to beloved home, and diagnosis to remission."

When you're looking at your astrological birth chart, you'll notice that there's more than just the sun influencing who you are. Your moon sign, Allure explains, is the key to understanding your emotional landscape and can help decipher your comfort language. For people born with their moon in Taurus, stability is everything. Despite Taurus being symbolized by the bull, lunar Taureans especially move more at the speed of a turtle and can, Live About warns, lose sight of the benefits of being proactive, let alone move forward.

Jamie Hoch's newest poetry collection, "Last Pawn Shop in New Jersey," not only tackles the difficulty of moving through grief but does so in a way that is particularly Taurean. In her Poetry Recommendations for 2022, Orion Magazine poetry editor Camille T. Dungy said when she read "Last Pawn Shop in New Jersey," she felt she could smell "the scent of a Zippo flicked in the Jersey Pine Barrens or mucky water slapping the Atlantic City Steel Pier."

For you, lover of all things beautiful, we're recommending a book that sheds light on the two sides of life: the ugly and the beautiful. "Last Pawn Shop in New Jersey" digs through the ugliness of grief and loss. But as the New York Journal of Books points out, Hoch does this with "a painter's brush, a gallerist's tour of tableaus of a life, whose thick daubs of oil are still wet."

The last major aspect of your astrological birth chart that we talk about is actually the most important, many would argue. As Live About explains, your ascendant — a.k.a. rising sign — is the zodiac constellation that's "rising over the eastern horizon at the time of your birth." It's part of the reason why your rising sign is most often the aspect impacting the first impression you make on others, what Elite Daily calls your "overall vibe."

Good vibes are exactly what Taurean ascendants are all about. Miami-based astrologer Valerie Mesa explained to Elite Daily that those born with Taurus rising get incredible satisfaction from indulging, even if it's "something as simple as a cold beverage, a nice cup of coffee, [or] a brisk walk on a nice day." If something is engaging multiple senses, they're content. This is why we suggest Taurean ascendants take a break to read "Eat This Poem: A Literary Feast of Recipes Inspired by Poetry" by Nicole Gulotta.

Equal parts cookbook and poetry collection, Book Riot explains that Gulotta not only includes recipes inspired by food-centric poetry, but includes the poems themselves as well as analysis, per Book Riot. Megan Gordon, author of "Whole-Grain Mornings," wrote in her review of the book that Gulotta reinforces the Taurean belief in "how meaningful the simple act of feeding and nourishing ourselves and our family is."