Today is National Poem in Your Pocket Day. This day was created in 2002 in New York City as part of the city's celebration of National Poetry Month. In 2009, the Academy of American Poets promoted the idea nationally.
The idea is simply to share poetry. Print out or write out your favorite poem, make copies and hand them out throughout the day. The Johnson County (Kansas) Library, which partners with The Writers Place to post a Poem-A-Day in April, prints bookmarks with those same poems for Poem In Your Pocket Day. Or, if you prefer to take advantage of today's technology, text, tweet, email or post your favorites. And, don't forget the art of spoken word.
See if there are any special celebrations in your area. Most importantly, share some words you love today.
Here is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken", read by the poet himself.
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Thursday, April 26, 2012
National Poem In Your Pocket Day
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
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I love this. The poem is dry until you hear it read by the author. That... has made all the difference,,:)
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DeleteThat's why readings and spoken word are so important.
DeleteI know I'm late responding to this, but PIYP was so fun this year! I actually wound up going to a creative writing reading (and sharing some of my own poetry) for a lit journal I used to be the Poetry Editor for; it was a blast (though it went a lot longer than expected). The amazing thing about it, though, was two girls who had "dared" each other to read; while some were annoyed at the hesitance they let slow their readings (each only had one poem, but combined I think they took ten minutes to get through it), what amazed me was that poetry had become their signs of bravery! I just love moments like that!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that story, Khara. It adds a new dimension to PIYP Day for me. It also reminds me how terrified I was the first time I read to a group!
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