Thoughts on Poetry During National Poetry Month

 

This is a repeat post from 2015 to give some more thought to National Poetry Month of April 2021. 

It's National Poetry month. This time of celebrating poetry and poets rolls around every April and I am always happy to recognize it. So many people shy away from both reading and writing poetry. It's a shame as there is pleasure in doing both. 

One of the things I particularly like about a book of poetry is that it's not a one-time read like many novels. Instead, leave it on your bedside table or by your favorite chair and pick it up now and then and read the book again. I find more in a poem every time I read it. 

The reason I asked my poet friend, Roy Beckemeyer, to do a few guest posts here is to stir up some interest in reading, and writing, poetry. Roy writes wonderful poetry and he's a fine teacher for the uninitiated, as well. 

I have featured a poem from another poet friend, Ronda Miller, in an earlier post. I must ask Ronda to consider doing a guest post here, too. Her poem, Moonstain, left a deep impression on me.

Many years ago, when I was in college, I helped in a fifth grade class in a campus lab elementary school as part of my Junior Partiicpation requirement. The classroom teacher gave me some responsibilites with the class and graded me on how I performed. In November, she told me I would be taking over the Language Arts class for a few days and she suggested I work with the students in some creative writing aimed at the Thanksgiving holiday. The writer in me came to the surface, even though I wasn't writing at the time. We wrote a class poem about Thanksgivng. The kids moved from Oh no! to That was fun. I wish I had saved the poem but I didn't. I had no idea in 1959 that I'd like to have it in hand when writing a blog. more than 50 years later! I didn't know a lot about poetry but I winged it and the project turned out well.

It's the same now. I've never had formal training in writing poetry--have never taken a class. But I've read a few articles and books on the subject and I've tried my hand at writing poems. Some of the results were pretty awful but some turned out quite alright.

Anyone can write a poem that comes from the heart. It may not be perfect in a professional poet's view, but if it pleases you, so be it. For the beginning poet, free verse seems to work best. I don't try most of the many forms of poetry because I don't know enough about them, but free verse is one I can tackle and I bet you can, too.

This is a poem I wrote after I accidentally knocked one of my husband's pottery collection pots off a pedestal. I felt bad that it had happened and the poem came from that. I rather liked it and enterd it in my state authors annual contest. The judge wrote notes all over the paper that had me mystified at first, then sent me into laughter. She thought that the pot signified my marriage, that I was getting a divorce and/or the victime of spousal abuse. Believe me, nothing is farther from the truth but it shows how some interpret the poetry they read. Here's the poem. See if you can figure out how she came to that conclusion. So many poems are metaphorical and she must have been thinking on those lines. This one was just plain fact!

                                                                             Shattered

His treasured pot—art piece

                                                             bought in a gallery on a

                                                             warm winter day in Texas,

                                                            one more for his growing collection--

                                                           now in shards, the tall pedestal on

                                                          which it posed still teetering,

                                                         while my heart stops, then beats,

                                                        erratic but pumping life’s blood.

                                                        I kneel and gather the small pieces,

                                                       place them inside one larger chunk,

                                                      still rocking after its shattering fall.

                                                      A sob catches in my throat.

                                                      I barely brushed the pedestal with the

                                                     empty laundry basket in my hand,

                                                     an accident. Will he forgive me?

                                                     Nearly five decades together, so

                                                     he surely loves me more than this

                                                    one hand-done piece. He has others.

                                                  I want to remind him that he

                                                 once broke my favorite crystal pitcher,

                                                 Waterford that is made no more.

                                                 I want to bring it up, but I won’t.

                                                I will say I’m sorry, and be sincere,

                                               and he will forgive, but will he forget?

                                               My hand slides across the pedestal’s cold

                                               marble top. What will rest there next?

                                                                            ---Nancy Julien Kopp 2011

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Poem In Your Pocket Day

 Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day which is only one part of celebrating National Poetry Month.

National Poetry Month Poster for 2016

The idea behind the Poem in Your Pocket Day is to get people to share poetry with others.  Hopefully, many teachers will promote this day with a class project to allow children to select a favorite poem and read it to others in the class through the day. It might be a simple project or one layered with many possibilities. 

I love the idea of having that slip of paper with the poem in you pocket. It's kind of like you're saying I've got a secret. The best part is that you want to share that secret with someone else. When I was in a Brownie troop in second grade, we sang a song about having a secret in a pocket. In that song, the secret turned out to be ...a great big Brownie smile but why not make yours a favorite poem today? 

I also am pleased that the American Academy of Poets established the celebration of poetry in 1996 by choosing April of each year to spread the word about poetry. This, then, is its twentieth year--more cause for celebration. 

We recognize poets of old and contemporary poets, as well. Maya Angelou wrote a special poem which she read at President Clinton's 1993 inauguration. Read her poem On The Pulse of the Morning. Who are your favorite poets--both from history and those who write poetry today? 

In my community, there will be a Poetry Reading session in the Rose Garden at our City Park this next Saturday afternoon. All are invited to read a poem or to just come and listen to those who do. It's an annual event here and, I must admit, I have never attended. Maybe I'll give it a try this year, might even slip a poem I've written into my pocket before I go. 

If you do nothing else to celebrate National Poetry Month, spend some time reading a book of poems. If you're like me, you'll find something new when you read multiple times. Poems have far fewer words than prose pieces but they can say every bit as much, and sometimes more. 

Whatever you do, don't say I hate poetry! Maybe you did when you had to memorize poems for English class. Maybe you did when you were far more into playing football or soccer. Maybe you did when you weren't exposed to different kinds of poems. Maybe now is the time to find out if you can read and enjoy poetry and maybe even write some yourself. We change in many ways as we journey through life. It's possible poetry may suddenly have a great appeal for you. 

Celebrate Poetry This Month!

It's National Poetry month. This time of celebrating poetry and poets rolls around every April and I am always happy to recognize it. So many people shy away from both reading and writing poetry. It's a shame as there is pleasure in doing both. 

One of the things I particularly like about a book of poetry is that it's not a one-time read like many novels. Instead, leave it on your bedside table or by your favorite chair and pick it up now and then and read the book again. I find more in a poem every time I read it. 

The reason I asked my poet friend, Roy Beckemeyer, to do a few guest posts here is to stir up some interest in reading, and writing, poetry. Roy writes wonderful poetry and he's a fine teacher for the uninitiated, as well. 

I have featured a poem from another poet friend, Ronda Miller, in an earlier post. I must ask Ronda to consider doing a guest post here, too. Her poem, Moonstain, left a deep impression on me.

Many years ago, when I was in college, I helped in a fifth grade class in a campus lab elementary school as part of my Junior Partiicpation requirement. The classroom teacher gave me some responsibilites with the class and graded me on how I performed. In November, she told me I would be taking over the Language Arts class for a few days and she suggested I work with the students in some creative writing aimed at the Thanksgiving holiday. The writer in me came to the surface, even though I wasn't writing at the time. We wrote a class poem about Thanksgivng. The kids moved from Oh no! to That was fun. I wish I had saved the poem but I didn't. I had no idea in 1959 that I'd like to have it in hand when writing a blog. more than 50 years later! I didn't know a lot about poetry but I winged it and the project turned out well.

It's the same now. I've never had formal training in writing poetry--have never taken a class. But I've read a few articles and books on the subject and I've tried my hand at writing poems. Some of the results were pretty awful but some turned out quite alright.

Anyone can write a poem that comes from the heart. It may not be perfect in a professional poet's view, but if it pleases you, so be it. For the beginning poet, free verse seems to work best. I don't try most of the many forms of poetry because I don't know enough about them, but free verse is one I can tackle and I bet you can, too.

This is a poem I wrote after I accidentally knocked one of my husband's pottery collection pots off a pedestal. I felt bad that it had happened and the poem came from that. I rather liked it and enterd it in my state authors annual contest. The judge wrote notes all over the paper that had me mystified at first, then sent me into laughter. She thought that the pot signified my marriage, that I was getting a divorce and/or the victime of spousal abuse. Believe me, nothing is farther from the truth but it shows how some interpret the poetry they read. Here's the poem. See if you can figure out how she came to that conclusion. So many poems are metaphorical and she must have been thinking on those lines. This one was just plain fact!

 Shattered

                                                His treasured pot—art piece

                                                bought in a gallery on a

                                                warm winter day in Texas,

                                                one more for his growing collection--

                                                now in shards, the tall pedestal on

                                                which it posed still teetering,

                                                while my heart stops, then beats,

                                                erratic but pumping life’s blood.

                                                I kneel and gather the small pieces,

                                                place them inside one larger chunk,

                                                still rocking after its shattering fall.

                                                A sob catches in my throat.

                                                I barely brushed the pedestal with the

                                                empty laundry basket in my hand,

                                                an accident. Will he forgive me?

                                                Nearly five decades together, so

                                                he surely loves me more than this

                                                one hand-done piece. He has others.

                                               I want to remind him that he

                                               once broke my favorite crystal pitcher,

                                              Waterford that is made no more.

                                              I want to bring it up, but I won’t.

                                              I will say I’m sorry, and be sincere,

                                              and he will forgive, but will he forget?

                                             My hand slides across the pedestal’s cold

                                              marble top. What will rest there next?

                                                                            ---Nancy Julien Kopp 2011

Meet A Fine Poet Who Knows What He's Talking About

I'm honored to have Roy Beckemeyer as my Guest Blogger today. I met Roy through the Kansas Authors Club and have come to admire and appreciate his poetry. He was selected as Kansas Authors Poet of the Year in 2013, a well deserved honor. Roy's post will help both writers and readers of poetry. I guarantee you'll learn something from this post. Leave a comment for Roy.

What About Writing Poetry?

I know that as a creative prose writer you have already heard about all those tools at your disposal: "Show more than you tell...Use sensory details...Open with a hook ... Characterization ... Use similes and metaphors ... Use strong verbs ... Vivid description" (I borrowed these from Nancy's Blog posting "What Do You Know About Creative Nonfiction?"). And each of these applies equally well to poetry writing.

So what is it that distinguishes prose and poetry? One difference is the use of line breaks. In prose our sentences go on  until they hit a margin, then continue on the next line. In poetry, lines can break wherever the poet wishes.

Why break a line in the middle of a sentence? Let's look at some examples (quoted poems are by the author unless otherwise attributed).

One reason is to encapsulate a string of words on one line to provide emphasis to a thought or image.

"Near midnight, the Milky Way crescendos"

Or the line may make a nice sounding sequence of words. Notice, in the line below, the repeat of the hard "c" sound in each phrase, the repetition of the double-l sound, the ending of each phrase with the same word, "moon," and how smoothly and pleasantly the line rolls off your tongue.

                        "the cotton-ball moon, the dollop of cream moon"

The line may entice us on to the next line. In the three lines below, the first two lead us on to the next line to see which leaf hasn't fallen, then the poet plays with us a bit by the let-down of the third line. He has led us on to a small disappointment.

"All the leaves

are down except

the ones that aren't..." - from "Verge" by James Schuyler

The line may end on a word that we want to emphasize, as in the first line below, where ending on the word "weight" seems to make the word itself feel heavier.

                        "Finally feel the full weight

                        of the sky on your shoulders"

Or the line may contain a rhythmic count of beats.

                        "At last the end of fence-mending is near"

The line length may have been chosen by the poet to make the reader slow down or speed up. The long line length for this next sequence of words supports the image being portrayed by enticing us to read on rapidly to its end, just as hail falls swiftly to the ground.

                        "like a hailstone hitting the sidewalk and shatter

                        its brittle brilliant self back up into the sky"

Or the lines may just look good on the page.  The short stanzas of the next poem make a pleasing shape on the page. The first two stanzas are shaped the same, and help to lead us into the poem in their regularity, with the longer line followed by a shorter one. Then the whole poem tapers as it comes to a close. The sequence of two-line stanzas makes the poem open and slows us down, lets us take the time to think on what it has to say.

                        "On these hard-edged mornings

                        of late winter

                        spring aches for its chance,

                        longs to swell

                        out of every bud,

                        to enclose the angular

                        bones of trees

                        in an arpeggio,

                        a green song

                        of grace notes."  

                        (From my poem, "Lent".)

Finally, the line endings also work like punctuation marks (e.g., the period, comma, and semicolon) in that they cause us to pause or hesitate as we read. But they are also more versatile: they can build suspense, or add emphasize in other ways to the content of the poem, as we have seen in the examples above.

The next time you read or write a poem, spend a few minutes looking at the layout of its lines. Notice how the lines affect how you read the poem, on the impression it makes on you. Try breaking the lines in different places. How did that affect the poem as you read it? As you spend more time doing this, you will become adept at using thoughtfully chosen line lengths to add to the impact of your own poems.

- Roy Beckemeyer

Roy Beckemeyer is vice president of the Kansas Authors Club and a poet.  His work has been published in a variety of literary journals, including Beecher's, The Midwest Quarterly, Kansas City Voices, The North Dakota Review, Straylight, Mikrokosmos, Coal City Review and The Bluest Aye. He was the Kansas Authors Club poet of the year for 2013,