April is National Poetry Month. Have you read any poetry lately?
Have you written any?
Let’s take the “read any” question first. There are so many types to choose from: traditional rhymed and metered verse, free verse, haiku, senryu, tanka, double dactyls, humorous verse, bawdy verse, collections of poems on specific subjects like the sea or animals, and children’s poems that we first read “when we were very young” (with apologies to A.A. Milne), which it’s fun to revisit as an adult—or would the more appropriate word here be “grownup”?
When’s the last time you read a book of poetry? Why not borrow one from the library and rediscover the pure enjoyment of reading verses?
And then…here comes a radical thought: Try writing some poetry yourself. Choose the type: free verse, classic verse, haiku, limericks…and if you’re into either haiku or limericks, there’s an online group you may want to join. (It’s free, and there’s no requirement that you contribute any particular number of poems, although naturally the members hope you’ll be an active participant.) To sign up, send a blank email FROM THE EMAIL ACCOUNT YOU WANT TO SUBSCRIBE FROM to: limericks_n_haiku-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Note the underscores before and after the “n.”
And don’t stop reading and writing poetry when April is over. April 30 may mark the end of National Poetry Month, but poetry’s pleasures can be enjoyed all year ’round.