{ national poetry month 2012! }

from the Academy of American Poets (poets.org)

Happy National Poetry month! 

This year, to celebrate, I'm giving away poetry books and reading poetry to my students at the beginning of each class ( I'll also give them opportunity to share one of their own poems, if they write, or one of their favorite poems before class; I have a few that I'm pretty sure will take me up on that). Some of the poets that I'm planning to read to them include Pablo Neruda, Jane Kenyon, Sylvia Plath, Robert Pinsky, and Billy Collins.

On a side note, I vividly remember sitting in my college poetry professor's office (a windowless nook with floor to ceiling books) and telling him that my love affair with Billy Collin's poetry was officially over (I had fallen hard and fast over the week and read everything our library had by him). And my professor said that was about the appropriate amount of time to love Billy Collin's poetry.

Still, I think its good for students; accessible, easy to understand, and funny sometimes.

Elsewhere in April...
{ The Academy of American Poets is handing over their Tumblr to a different poet each day in the month of April
{ Poem in your Pocket day is April 26
{ Kelli Russell Agodon is hosting the Big Poetry Giveaway--which I'm participating in this year
{ the poetry foundations' blog (Harriet the Blog) is having poets like Rachel Zucker and D.A. Powell guest-write / discuss writing topics this month
{ Robert Lee Brewer's blog Poetic Asides will have poetry prompts for poets who are brave enough to take on writing a poem a day in April

As for that last one...
I'm still on the fence as to whether I should try to write a poem a day or not. My initial reaction (when Heather suggested we tackle it for the third time) was no no no no. Its my first semester teaching and the last week of April and I've got a stack of papers the size of my face to grade. BUT...if you love something, you make time for it...and the point of a poem a day isn't just writing when its convenient, its Just Writing...See, I'm slowly persuading myself. I guess I have til the end of the day to decide...

indeed there will be time to wonder do i dare and do i dare...