April is National Poetry Month: Celebrating Poets and Poems

April must inspire poetry. April showers bring May flowers ... wan that April (Chaucer) ... April is the cruelest (Millay) ... Perhaps that is why the American Academy of Poets chose it to honor past and current poets and, hopefully, to encourage new ones. This year, to celebrate its eleventh annual National Poetry Month, the academy is hosting a country-wide Poetfan contest, a Poem-a-Day database, an Internet discussion about the poetry that means the most to us and why, and a gala in New York City. Their website, www.poets.org, also includes lesson plans for teachers and strategies for incorporating poetry into everyday life.

Why dedicate an entire month to poetry? As a high school English teacher, I find poems to be puzzles for my students. We can spend more than thirty minutes negotiating why a writer used a certain word or what message he or she was trying to, oftentimes cryptically, convey. The musicians in my class like the rhythm; the dreamers like poetry's whimsical and non-concrete nature; the romantics like the essence. National Poetry Month also reminds me to celebrate my own personal encounters with poetry: the first time my father read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" aloud; the day my mom handed me Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends; the professor who cried when he read Allen Ginsberg's "Supermarket in California to my college English class; the Emily Dickinson poem my godmother read at my wedding; and the child who proudly turned in her own creations to me during my first year as a teacher.

Poetry doesn't have to be intimidating; and it doesn't have to be the sole property of high academics. It's part of our lives in ways we may not even recognize -- the song we love, the commercial jingle we can't get out of our heads, and the phrases we repeat to our loved ones on a daily basis. April gives us an excuse to celebrate these glimmers.

How can we celebrate poetry along with the American Academy? Here are some ideas:

Create your own found poetry. "Found poetry" is an exercise borrowed from Bridging English, which I often use in my classes when students are truly stumped by the work in their textbooks. I read them a poem about parents who attempted to force their daughter to shoot her own dog as punishment for missing curfew. Stunned by its content, they want to know if it's a true story. That's when I read them the article from a 1976 edition of the New York Times that the poet used to extract his work. He didn't change a word, he just took phrases that stood out to him and created his own impression of the story. After I model this concept, I hand out copies of People,Newsweek,Time, or any other magazine I have available and highlighters. I ask them to choose an article that interests them and to highlight important phrases. Then, I ask them to transpose these phrases onto their own sheets of paper. All of a sudden, they become poets.

Buy a Magnetic Poetry Kit and host a poetry party. With so many different kits available for all types of interests, from bird lovers to Shakespeare scholars, there are endless possibilities for poetic fun. If you don't want to buy a kit, you can create your own with Post-It Notes. Simply write words on the notes and have a ball arranging them into your own creations.

Rummage through your local bookstore and discover a poet. Pick up a book by an author you have never heard of and read even a few lines. See if you're inspired. If not, try another. You'd be amazed at what might motivate you. While you're there, take a minute to visit poetry you may have forgotten. Re-read something you studied in school, or a piece you heard in a movie. Note if your perception of the poem has changed with the experiences you've gained since your last read.

Watch a movie about poetry. The Basketball Diaries, Dead Poets' Society, and Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam are among the many titles you can rent in celebration of National Poetry Month.

Go to a coffee shop and watch -- or participate -- in an open mic poetry session. Check your local newspaper for listings.

Sources:
American Poets Society, www.poets.org
Milner, Joseph O. and Lucy Milner. Bridging English. New York: Prentice Hall, 2002.