[This is the first post of Jo Bell’s 52 project, which ran for the 52 weeks of 2014 and is now a book published by Nine Arches Press. We’ve made this one available again as a taster of what’s to come… buy the book here or follow @52poetry on Twitter to see extracts and poems taken from it.]

Are you sitting comfortably? Never mind. Let’s begin anyway. Welcome to 52, a weekly kick in the arse for your Muse. Bookmark us or follow us – there will be guest blogs from big names and unexpected sources; prompts, discussions and projects.

What is poetry for? Everything. Every damn thing. Poetry can tell us how to live, question how we live, remind us how we choose to live. You may be here because you have committed to writing one poem a week for the whole year. But if you haven’t – or if you…