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Friday, April 1, 2011

APRIL- NATIONAL POETRY MONTH


April is National Poetry Month.
I love poetry.
And I wish I had something flashy organized for this month.
I have thought of lots of ideas.
I could write a poem a day, like my friend MaryLee is planning to do.
I could do a whole month of found poems.
I could do a whole month of poetry quotes.
I could do poetry trios, where I found three poems that went together .
I could review a book and put a poem with it.
I could do book reviews in the form of poems.
I could review poetry books.
I could share a different favorite poet every day.
I could take pictures and write poems about them.
At this point in my life, with no job for next year,
and teenagers,
all of those seem a bit much.
So let me just say, I love poetry
and I will probably/might
do something poetry connected
when I blog this month.

Today's gift, a poem I found in this month's OPRAH magazine
(if you haven't seen it yet, there's a terrific section on poetry!)


"Poetry"

To walk quietly
till the miracle in everything
speaks to you
is poetry.

You want to look for poetry
in your soul
and in your everyday life,
as you search for stones
on the beach.

Four thousand miles away,
as the sun ices the snow,
I smile.

For in this moment,
you are the poem.

After years of looking,
I can only say
that searching for small things
worn by the deep
is the art of poetry

But listening
to what they say

is the poem.

For me,
poetry
is the unexpected utterance
of the soul.

It is where the soul
touches the everyday.

It is less about words
and more about awakening
the sense of aliveness
we carry within us
from birth.

To walk quietly

till the miracle
in everything

speaks

is poetry

whether we write it down
or not.

I confess
I started out life
wanting to write
great poems,

only to be worn by life
to wanting to discover true poems,
and now
in the second half of life,
I feel humbled
and excited

to want to be
the poem.

Mark Nepo
OPRAH magazine, April, 2011, p. 232

5 comments:

Amy L V said...

Carol! I think that I was reading this article at the same time you were writing the poem. That last line really got me too. I'm so glad that you made it to Poetry Friday. Happy month ahead! A.

Michelle said...

Love ALL of your ideas to celebrate the beauty and brevity of poetry. Thanks for the poem and the list of mini-celebrations. I'm sure I'll try a few of those!

Wow! Great found poem as well...let us be the poem!
Michelle

Doraine said...

This is beautiful, Carol. So profoundly simple. I think that's what I like best about poetry. Profound, but simple. I hope you enjoy a month of poetry and find yourself being the poem in each moment.

Mary Lee said...

I like Michelle's advice -- if you don't have it in you to make or collect all kinds of poems, then BE a poem this month.

Hugs,
ML

Susan Taylor Brown said...

Oh my, this is beautiful. The poetry of everyday life is my very favorite and I am trying to slow myself down long enough to see it.