How to have a Perfect Philly Day, according to poet and Monument Lab curator Yolanda Wisher

Poet, musician, and educator Yolanda Wisher has long drawn inspiration from the everyday rhythms of life and death in Philadelphia.

Selected as Philly’s third poet laureate in 2016 — she served for the customary two years — Wisher, 49, first emerged onto Philly’s poetry scene around 2000, while earning a master’s degree in creative writing at Temple and hosting spoken-word nights in Old City alongside giants like Trapeta Mayson, Ursula Rucker, and Jill Scott. Her stunning 2014 debut collection Monk Eats an Afro was praised as a “blueswoman’s purse of poem and songs” and “bursting folk poetry.”

Since 2023, Wisher has served as senior curator of Monument Lab, the public art and history studio, where in July, she published and edited a journal featuring poetry and other works reflecting on the 70th anniversary of Emmett Till’s lynching in Mississippi. She cocurates Healing Verse Germantown, a public arts program highlighting the poetry of Philadelphians touched by gun violence. Next spring, she debuts Bicentennial Baby, a podcast focusing on the lived experiences of Philadelphians turning 50, and lately has published a series of poems composed on a typewriter to improvisational jazz.

“I still think of myself sometimes as an outsider to Philly,” said Wisher, who was born in Germantown and raised in North Wales. ”Poetry has been my way of making community here.”

Wisher lives in Germantown with her husband, Mark Palacio, a double bassist and educator, and their 15-year-old son, Thelonious — and writes in a third-floor studio, overlooking her leafy neighborhood.

A perfect Philly day would include the singsong of backyard birds, a killer brunch, typewriter shopping, a sunset picnic, and whiskey and a joint under the stars.

Oh man, I get up usually before I want to get up. One of the first things I’m doing is laying in the bed like a little bit of a nerd, listening to the birds out my window, which is a very interesting thing for me as a poet and somebody who works with sound. I really tune into that in the morning. And I have this new app called Merlin Bird ID, which helps me ID all the sounds of the birds. It’s so cool, you got to get it.

The next thing would be just spending some time doing some art making for myself. Just two hours of uninterrupted quiet time for watercolors, listening to some Alice Coltrane, journaling and writing some poems, typing on the typewriter. Just kind of making a little bit of a mess on my desk on the third floor, drinking some tea, maybe putzing around, playing with my plants.

Then I might start getting ready for the day, checking in with everybody in my house. Then, the next big step for me is brunch.

I love going to Parc on Rittenhouse Square. I’m doing fancy brunch with some good friends, some artist friends, some poets, some musicians. A long, luscious brunch. We’re not rushing at all. Bellinis. Oysters. French fries. Mussels. French toast. Not all me, of course. But around the table. We’re all sharing in the joy. If it’s hot and the sun is out, it’s an inside vibe. If it’s cool and fall-like, it could be cute to sit outside.

Then, I’d want to go on a very particular shopping trip. I’m going to Omoi Zakka, the stationary shop down in Old City. I’m hitting some of the little thrifting stores in Old City. That is where I met my husband, at a poetry reading in that area, around Second and Third and Arch. That is kind of old stomping grounds for us.

Maybe we even hop over to Queen Village and then Passyunk Avenue and meander over to Philly Typewriter. I could get lost in there for two hours just talking to the guys. They know me. I’ve bought typewriters there. I also have an Olivetti Valentine that my husband bought me, which is one of my favorite pieces. Pop art design, lipstick red — the Andy Warhol of typewriters.

OK, I’m tired. I’m old. Let’s get some food for a picnic kind of vibe. Weaver’s Way just opened up a new co-op in Germantown, which I’m so grateful about. It’s a nice little spot to get some drinks, some cheese, some crackers. I want me and my hubby to go to the park. We love going to the Wissahickon and going on a little hike. We have our secret places in the Wissahickon that are really kind of private. You can just chill there and be at one with nature or sit by the water and have a nice little bite to eat. We get our steps in — and just before it gets dark, make our way back home.

We gotta sit on the back porch. Our back porch has a nice, open glass ceiling to the stars. So we can watch the stars and do some animal gazing. We might see a possum. We might see a raccoon. There’s no telling what you might see here in Germantown when it comes to wildlife [laughing]. We might be having a whiskey sour and a joint on the back porch for real. That would be our perfect end to the night.