International/National Poetry Month

For Freshwater Poets  

 

after “There are three rules for writing …

unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”       W. Somerset Maugham 

 

Here are my four: 

 

1 

swim mid-stream, letting your luminescent scenes slide between stanza currents 

 

2 

hold roe underwater in mud reeds to nest until future phrases, hatched, are ready to breech the surface 

 

3 

push back silencing dams, and with sharp, silver-ink fins and tails sculpt images cold wet onto shores, sandy, shale, or reefed 

 

4 

aqua-breathe life into every last netted comma and dash – then throw them back into the water to spawn 

 

 Karen Pierce Gonzalez

 

Much Ado About Poetry This Month!

The word 'poetry' comes from the Greek word poiesis which means 'making'.  It is a form of literature that uses rhythm and intentional syntax choices to convey sentiment and sensations.

Poetry has a long oral history that dates back to prehistoric hunter-gatherer periods and early written form occurs in texts estimated to be from the 25th century BCE. In some instances they evolved into folk songs like those of the Chinese Shijing and epics, such as the Iliad.

Today's poetic landscape is sprouting varieties around the globe that include slams (fast-paced memorized with rap-like beats) and more. Poems are popping out of English classrooms and onto basketball courts, malls, and airport lobbies where free-spirited poets create works on the spot.

Because April is both International and National Poetry Month, there are a plethora of poetic adventures to be had. Most, if not all, of them are online (virtual) opportunities.  

Here are a few:

• Download a free copy of Poetry Foundation's April issue.   Click here
• Attend Allographic Virtual Open Mic April 30. Click here 
• Speak the Word, weekly writing workshops. Click here 
• Workshops and readings at Poetry Day Ireland 2023 April 26.   Click here 

National Poetry Month

po·et·ry 

/ˈpōətrē/   noun    (Merrian Webster Dictionary)

• 1.literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature:"he is chiefly famous for his love poetry"
• ▪a quality of beauty and intensity of emotion regarded as characteristic of poems:"poetry and fire are nicely balanced in the music"
• ▪something regarded as comparable to poetry in its beauty:"the music department is housed in a building that is pure poetry"

National Poetry Month - established by Academy of American Poets in April 1996,  was designed to highlight how poets and poetry play an important role in our culture. Since then, it has become one of the largest literary celebrations in the world.  According to Academy of American Poets, tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and—of course—poets have found ways to uplift poetry in everyday life.

If you want to expand your exposure to poetry, start with the recommended reading list below. To find out what events are planned for the month, click here. 

Here are two recent and two recently published poetry publications you'll want to check out:

Ceiling Fan, Kari Flickinger (Rare Swan Press 2022)

Matthew  M.C. Smith  (writer, poet,  Black Bough Poetry editor) says it best:

“This collection draws the reader into a private world of painful introspection playing with notions of wholeness and fracture – of self-identity and relationship breakdown. The speaker reflects on an atomised existence held together by the rhythms of a ceiling fan. She is

 a ‘girlcreature in her shredded pinafore’ who asks ‘how can you be going when I already left’? The poetic language betrays numbness and deep pain ‘I have been a conquered world’, ‘I am not/ a syncopated being. I fall/ in and out of light’, ‘I could scramble over/ the desert rocks of this after/-life. Heartless as I was’.

Honest, painful and poetic, this is a memorable collection.”

One of Kari's favorite poems:

I Take Shelter under the Stables by Nicholas Yingling 

More about Ceiling Fan

Black Bough Poetry's Silver Branch Series

Featured Poet: Marcelle Newbold

Marcelle's writing is as precise as it is evocative. A Welsh poet who explores place and inheritance, she has been Pushcart Prize nominated, and is winner of the Poetry in the Arcades 2020 competition.  Managing Editor of Nightingale & Sparrow literary press, she also coordinates the Gloucester Poetry Festival.

One of Marcelle's favorite poems:

You Told the Doctor by Nikki Dudley

More about Marcelle

More recommendations:      

The Mask, Elisabeth Horan (2021 Broken Spine Press)

This collection of ekphrastic poetry was written in response to the artwork of Frida Kahlo. It follows the earlier publication Self-Portrait (Cephalo Press). Horan's previous chapbooks and collections include Was it Ripe?, Fem Box Poems, and Odd List Odd House Odd Me.

More about The Mask

Pandemic Puzzle Poems (2021 Blue Light Press)

This anthology chronicles life during Covid-19. Works selected by Poet/Publisher Diane Frank and Poet/Artist Prartho Sereno include poems  by Jane Hirshfield, Ted Kooser, Naoimi Shihab Nye, and Barbara Quick, as well as other poets, including me. 

More about Pandemic Puzzle Poems

WANT MORE?

Every Monday this month on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter , we'll be posting mini-poem prompts

Interested in sharing your work this month? Start here.