Seven Ways to Celebrate Poetry

Perhaps it’s because I’m worried my kids spend too much time with screens and not enough time creating. Perhaps it’s because I could use an imagination boost myself. Perhaps it’s John Green and his short poems on the Dear Hank and John podcast. Whatever it is, I’m dusting off the college English anthologies and leaving poems on my kids’ beds.

April 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month, the world’s largest literary celebration. Every year, schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets encourage appreciation for this art form that condenses meaning, rhythm, and sometimes whimsy into short lines of words.  Good poetry raises questions, communicates emotion, and inspires us. It’s a worthwhile literary form that deserves our attention.

To get a little more poetry savvy this spring, check out the Poets.org list of 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month. If you’re short on time (who isn’t?) check out my list. I took the most interesting and viable tips from Poets.org and added a few of my own Word Nerdy ideas:

1. Encourage everyone in your house to memorize at least one poem this month. Humorous poems get the most traction with my younger kids. I’m hoping my teens will embrace something more meaningful, maybe even angst ridden, this year, like Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”. (Wait, that’s like 20 pages long. Maybe just parts “1 and 2”?)
2. Sign up to receive a Poem-A-Day via email for the month of April. Then actually READ the poems, preferably out loud, to anyone who will listen. (e.g. children trapped in the car with you.) Even better, have a child read the poem. I just printed off “Blind Boone’s Apparitions” by Tyehimba Jess for my daughter, the pianist.
3. Read a poem to yourself/roommate/spouse/ kids before bed. I know evening time is precious. Pick a short poem!
4. Chalk a poem on the sidewalk. This will be a new activity for me this year. I’d like to chalk poetry graffiti near the schools and parks in town.  Of course, I’ll ask for permission first, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
5. Participate in Poem In Your Pocket Day. On April 21, copy a poem (here are some ideas) and keep it in your pocket to share with friends, family, coworkers, and students. I’ll be on a field trip to Washington D.C. with a bus full of 8th graders; this should be interesting. 🙂 Daughter will LOVE ME.
6. Print up a famous poem plus critical analysis and discuss it with your kids/coworkers, etc.  Inspired by The Fault in Our Stars, I’ve picked “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot.
7. Get ready for Mother’s Day by choosing a line of poetry to use in a Mother’s Day card. Or, if you’re a mother, give your kids some poetic suggestions and see what they pick.

Do you like these ideas, but need to find great poems?  Look here:

• Academy of American Poets
• The Poetry Foundation
• Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies 
• Poems to Learn by Heart, Caroline Kennedy 

Which of these activities will you use to celebrate poetry this month? Can you offer any other suggestions?

Thanks for getting poetic with me!

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