April is National Poetry Month. Have you been celebrating? You can be part of the “Dear Poet Project” where you can write letters in response to poems written and read by award-winning poets. Here’s Toi Derricotte reading her poem “For Telly the Fish.” Do you have a fish, too? Share your experience with Poet Derricotte.
Also, you can sign up for “Poem-a-Day” at http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem-day and a poem will be emailed to you each day of the year. Here is today’s poem: “At night, by marriage:” by Lisa Ciccarello:
At night, by marriage:
Lisa Ciccarello
Here is how I control my heart: I string each thought one
behind the next, like beads.
I wear the answers I am waiting to give. The jewelry
becomes heavy as soil.
My long blink is a scream & a yes. There are things I have to say,
but they do not yet know the questions they must ask. & a blink is
no word; if they misunderstand—
A heart is just soil. Ask anyone. A heartbeat is a blink. A long blink
is a scream. A longer blink is sleep. All night I am screaming.
And, finally, this Thursday, April 30, is “Poem-in-your-Pocket” Day. The Academy of American Poets writes:
“On Poem in Your Pocket Day, people throughout the United States celebrate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others throughout the day as schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, and other venues ring loud with open readings of poems from pockets.
Poem in Your Pocket Day was originally initiated in 2002 by the Office of the Mayor, in partnership with the New York City Departments of Cultural Affairs and Education, as part of the city’s National Poetry Month celebration. In 2008, the Academy of American Poets took the initiative national, encouraging individuals around the country to join in and channel their inner bard.”
So, go get a poem for your pocket! Ben Cho, Blog Editor, has the following pocket poem suggestions:
Hope
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,
– Emily Dickinson
Daybreak
STAY, O sweet and do not rise!
The light that shines comes from thine eyes;
The day breaks not: it is my heart,
Because that you and I must part.
Stay! or else my joys will die 5
And perish in their infancy.
–John Donne
Risk
And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom.
– Anais Nin
Once you have your poem, SHARE IT! You can even share on Twitter by using the hashtag #pocketpoem.
