National Poetry Month 2023

 April is National Poetry Month. A time to recognize the many poets of today and those from past centuries. A time to read poetry or to write some verses yourself. 

What is that you are saying or thinking? I'm no poet. I can't write verses that make any sense or rhyme or wouold be entertaining to others. Don't be too sure about that. One need not have formal training in this kind of writing to give it a try. I've done it, even had several published, and so can you. 

Start with free verse which gives you more freedom than if you are trying to write more complicated forms of poetry. Write what comes from the heart. Allow your emotions to come through the words you write. 

If you're not up to writing poetry, read some. There are many poetry books available at bookstores and libraries. The variety is endless. I met a young woman last week who told me she is taking Latin in college. She added, "I love reading poetry in Latin." Needless to say, that impressed me. 

We have contemporary poets like Amanda Gorman, who wrote a poem for the last inauguration. Did you know that Robert Frost was the first poet to write a poem for an inauguration? Bill Clinton selected Maya Angelou to write and present a poem for his first inauguration. You can find any of these poems online. Mary Oliver is another contemporary poet, died in 2019, but her award-winning work is still very popular. 

We all studied famous poets when we were in school. Maybe we were at an age when we didn't appreciate them, so why not read the works of some of them now? You might have a different perspective than you did as a student. 

Use a search engine to find the works of poets like Robert Frost, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Emily Dickinson, Sara Teasdale, Rudyard Kipling, Langston Hughes, and of course, William Shakespeare. 

When you read a poem, don't merely read it through once and call it done. Poetry should be read multiple times to savor the meaning, the use of words, the emotions and more. I find that watching a movie twice lets me see more in the film, things I hadn't noticed the first time. It's the same with poetry. 

Make a point of reading some poetry this month.