Simple Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month
April 30, 2021
Reading poetry is a simple pleasure that I don’t indulge in as often as I’d like. Even though I enjoy it, it sometimes feels too “hard.” I know a lot of people feel that way, or they think poetry is boring or confusing. And it certainly can be. But it can also be funny, sweet, thought provoking, and powerful. Witness the furor caused by Amanda Gorman’s poem from this year’s presidential inauguration.
April is National Poetry Month and in honor of that, I’m sharing a poem below, and a few links to other resources related to National Poetry Month or poetry in general. If you have any favorite poems or poets, please do share in the comments below!
30 Ways to Celebrate the 25th Annual National Poetry Month at Home or Online
It’s National Poetry Month—No Foolin’
American Life in Poetry has a new editor and a new look, and I still think it’s one of the best ways to get a taste of modern poetry.
Knopf Doubleday offers a free poem-a-day service during the month of April (click here to sign up for next year) and occasional news about the poets they publish.
Today’s poem, with an introduction by Ted Kooser:
It’s not at all unusual for a poet who’s been impressed by someone else’s poem to think, “I wish I’d written THAT!” I’ve never read a poem by the late Lisel Mueller — and I’ve read nearly all of them — when I didn’t feel just that way. Mueller died at age 96 this past February [2020]. Here’s the poem that stands as an epigraph to her Pulitzer Prize winning book, Alive Together: New and Selected Poems, published by Louisiana State University Press.
In Passing
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©1996 by Lisel Mueller, “In Passing,” from Alive Together: New and Selected Poems, (Louisiana State University Press, 1996). Poem reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press. Introduction copyright © 2021 by The Poetry Foundation.
2 comments
I agree, for me poetry is rather hard to read. I have to slow down, concentrate, visualize, reflect. This is a perfect poem for this time of year...Beautiful, thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Rita. Glad you enjoyed this little taste of poetry!
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