Luanne Castle’s post reminded me that it’s National Poetry Month here in the U.S. Celebrate!
National Poetry Month begins today! You can make a commitment to learning more poetry by deciding to read, write, or contemplate poetry every day in April. The Academy of American Poets asks us to kick off the celebration by reading these poems about the art of poetry:
- “El Poema/The Poem” by Homero Aridjis
- “Endnote” by Hayden Carruth
- “The Secrets of Poetry” by Linda Gregg
- “Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
- “Poetry” by Monica Ferrell
- “How Do I Know When a Poem Is Finished?” by Naomi Shihab Nye
- “This is a Wonderful Poem” by David Wagoner
- “The Uses of Poetry” by William Carlos Williams
Tweet me here which one you like best and why!
Desert Botanical Gardens butterfly exhibit
O at the Edges 
I commit to post a poem a day for April, either a new one from my hand and heart or one from a poet or import or historic fame. Poetry seizes the soul like no other form of writing. Release to poet within
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I’m going to attempt to post something each day, but can’t devote the time to write something original every day.
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Desert botanical? Are you here in the valley of the sun? Phoenix area?
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That would be Luanne Castle, whose post I reblogged. I live in Texas.
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Ah… I lived in Texas, San Angelo to be exact, for about 6 months in 1985
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I’ve lived in Austin for the past 35 years. Things have changed…
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So far, my favourite is Naomi’s – comparing a poem to a room. I’ve screenshotted that to inspire me this week in many aspects of life – create, sculpt a little, let it fly free into someone else’s home for them to make meaning … Antidote to the agony of trying to make something ‘perfect’
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One of my favorites, too. But I could say that about a lot of her poems. 🙂
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Thanks for introducing me to her work!
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Thanks for this, Robert Okaji. I just finished one poem, am working on a second, and plan to keep writing one after another all this months. Didn’t know it was National Poetry Month, just felt inspired to write more. Must be the appearance of spring leaving me with the feeling that I’ve just been released from the prison of a Sapporo winter.
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Life has interfered with my writing schedule over the past few months, but yesterday I was able to sit and write for a few hours. Pure bliss!
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Hard to choose one but if I must then I tip my hat toward David Wagoner’s poem.
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