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