Happy National Poetry Month! Today, April 27, 2023, the American Academy of Poets celebrates Poem in Your Pocket Day. The idea is to get more poetry out into the world. Read a poem, share it with others. If you love language, if you enjoy grounding yourself in a thought or moment or idea, or in the present, poems serve as a wonderful guide.
I write prose, not poetry, but reading poetry informs my prose. It also helps me appreciate and explore the world. I’m trying to embrace the habit of reading more poetry to make my writing efficient and descriptive, but I never read enough. National Poetry Month, and especially Poem in Your Pocket Day, give me the nudge I need. And in turn, I’m nudging you today with a short poem.
Don’t let poems scare you. There’s more to poetry than iambic pentameter and William Shakespeare. Many modern poets don’t even rhyme. If you visit poets.org, you can find several short poems to memorize and pass along.
Let me get you started. This poem, “8.”, was written by bell hooks, a prolific author of multiple genres, including kid lit, self-help, memoir, and of course, poetry. She passed away in December 2021, but during her life she used her voice to explore gender and race and bring feminism beyond white middle class boundaries. I’ll read it for you, since I find poetry, like a Shakespearean play, is best appreciated by the ears.
University Press of Kentucky (2012)
I also bring more poetry in my life through The Slowdown Podcast, hosted by Major Jackson. Each episode features a poem and a little bit of framing to support it. I love listening to The Slowdown in the evening, when I’m cooking dinner. It helps me settle my thoughts from the day into a useful and nourishing shape. Try it!
Happy poetry month! Do you have a poem to share?
Thanks for getting poetic with me!
