Poet’s Corner

Greetings, poets! It is I, your friendly neighborhood poetry nerd, here to bring you some exciting news: it’s National Poetry Month!!

This April marks the 25th anniversary of the largest literary celebration in the world. Launched in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month has become a way to celebrate the importance of poets and poems in our lives.

Now, although this is the third time you have joined me in the Poet’s Corner, some of you may still be asking yourself: why is poetry important? Maybe our recent jaunts through the work of Amanda Gorman and Emily Bronte weren’t enough to convince you of the power of verse. That’s okay -- in fact, that’s great! That means that your Poetry Soulmate is still out there just waiting to be found.

Why is poetry important? I have never heard a better answer than the one given to me by Kyle Dargan, Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at American University: “Poetry is a way to capture what it feels like to live in this moment right now.”

I loved that way of looking at this art form, as a way to take the pulse of a split second in time, to say to the past and the future: “I’m here”. In a time when too much feels impermenant, poetry helps us stay grounded.

My second favorite thing about poetry is that it is like a scavenger hunt through books -- one in which you don’t know what you are looking for until you’ve found it. I find that very often, poetry works like a prism in reverse, distilling my nebulous feelings into one clear beam of light.

Phew. Thank you for accompanying me on that jaunt through metaphor city! Now for something a little more concrete.

Not only is this National Poetry Month, but also National Poetry Writing Month. If you are thinking, Well, I’m not actually a writer, so I’m all set, DO NOT CLICK AWAY.

The premise of National Poetry Writing Month (or NaPoWriMo if you’re cool) is simple: every day, you check out this website, and write at least a few lines using the prompts provided. If a prompt isn’t working for you, no worries! As long as you can crank out 3-5 sentences a day, this challenge is for you.

Real talk: not all of these lines will be good (that’s okay). The goal is simply to get the juices flowing so you can get down your take on what it means to “live in this moment right now”.

Before someone put a notebook into my hands and told me that they think I have something to say, I never thought that I was a ‘writier’. But after writing some a lot of junk, I found myself generating commentary about the world that I actually was proud to share. Through daily writing, you’ll find that poetry is truly a practice, a way of moving through the world constantly with a magnifying glass.

However you chose to celebrate this month, by writing, reading, or simply appreciating, we hope you’ll take some time to make room for some incredible verse this month. And, in honor of the rebirth of the world this springtime, check out one of my favorite Robert Frost poems called “Nothing Gold Can Stay”:

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

This poem always makes me want to put down the computer and go frolic in a field for the brief moment that we get to share in the miracle of spring. *Sigh*.

Until next time, my friends, stay literary.

Poet’s Corner is metaphorically written by Rose Hansen

Submit a letter to the Academy of American Poets Dear Poet project to thank a poet who has influenced your life. Submission deadline is April 30!