Instagram Poet Lyndsay Rush May Be 'A Bit Much'

In A Bit Much, comedy writer and poet, Lyndsay Rush, presents her debut book, a collection of poetry containing over 140 funny and heartwarming poems about her experiences with life, love, and womanhood. Rush, who became a poet by accident, became a viral sensation when her witty and relatable poems were posted on her popular Instagram account, @maryoliversdrunkcousin, and was a hit with celebrities such as Michelle Pfeiffer and Melanie Griffith. In the first year alone, her account gained over 80K followers and has amassed over 166K followers since then! For Rush, her idea of what she considers a poem is a poem that is written in a way that is authentic to the individual. “As somebody who is self taught, I believe that if it’s true it’s a poem… to me, [it] would have to be delivered in a way that would feel new or fresh to people. It’s not just a statement that you would come across a lot. It would be, I think, using language in creative ways to communicate something… I’m sure people who have MFA’s and who are studied poets would have a different answer, but one of the things that has been so fun for me was I just gave myself permission to write in whatever way felt right to me, and then it started resonating with people…”

Concerning the structure of her collection, she explained, “So, broadly they are: the first section is love poems. The second section is, sort of, not complaints, but rage… The third part is… self love and cheering for yourself, and the fourth section, informally, is lullabies and basically things to soothe you…” For her readers, Rush organized her book in a way where they would be able to open the book and turn to a piece that relates to them in that moment. “…I felt like people could pick it up and, depending on how they were feeling or how they wanted to feel, could find a poem that would meet them where they were… Part 1 is called “When you have a crush on everything and everyone.’ Part 2 is called ‘When the monster turns out to be 3 dogs and a trench coat…’ That section deals with a lot of my experience leaving the religious system I grew up in and anything that had helped me change my mind about things. Part 3 is called ‘When you have main character syndrome and aren’t looking for a cure…’ That’s where ‘She’s a Bit Much’ is, and then part 4 is called ‘When someone telling you to relax actually works.’ Of course I had to call them something silly. I couldn’t call them ‘Lullabies and Rants.'”