Poetry, Poesie, Verse & Line....

If Only It Could Be National Poetry Month All of the Time!




If you're looking for a one stop internet resource to help you celebrate National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets have you covered. Poems, biographies of well loved verse technicians, poetry writing instruction, essays on the craft and other articles are just some of the poetic offerings available at Poets.org.

More NPM fun:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux's National Poetry Month blog:

• Of course, we had to bring you a new ringtone, recorded just for you by one of FSG's most illustrious poets;
• More audio of some of greatest poets, including a long-time FSGer who somehow managed to escape recording for us last year, even though he had a new book out;
• A whole week devoted exclusively to poetry in translation;
• All-new downloadable posters (guaranteed to brighten up even the saddest cubicle), guest bloggers, and giveaways.

April Poem-A-Day Challenge with Robert Lee Brewer

• Prompts
• Poems
• Fun

(You can view my daily poetry posts in honor of National Poetry Month at Chocolate and Other Poems. Wish me luck and fortitude, better yet, post a poem of your own in the comments section.)

Feeling Subversive.....Poet?

Poetry notoriously treats the big three, birth, love and death. Poetry also gives voice to a gamut of emotions and voices, which do not embody the cliche expectations of melodrama or syrupy effusiveness which many expect from poetry. Poetry and poetic prose provide a creative form fit to express the thoughts and passions of protest or lamentation, as well as exhortations of love or hate--read Wuthering Heights lately? Visit Poet's Corner to read some examples of Protest Poetry.

Visit Publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux's, The Best Words In Their Best Order, An Engaging & Elegant National Poetry Month Blog

FSG's poetry blog is definitely a must stop for poets and lover's of poetry. This site offers podcasts of poetry readings, reviews, downloads and commentary for the discerning poetry fan. Click on this post's title to follow the link to the blog.

Quote for the Week

"I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose,—words in their best order; poetry,—the best words in their best order."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)

Words for the Week~National Poetry Month Rocks!

I'm about to make a confession which may put me on the bad side of quite a few people. I love my muse more than the poetry they inspire. Of course, I love that most which moves me to pick up the pen. Some may empathize with me immediately; others require explanation. My muse moves me to express my thoughts, my emotions in poesie, then challenges me to make my current creation better than the last.

If I most loved poetry, I'd be an enthusiastic and appreciative reader, but not necessarily inspired to write. And being honest, I'd rather be a little known or unknown poet, rather than an anonymous fan of the art. As reader and poet, poetry for me is three dimensional, it is alive, begging to be read, spoken, written, rewritten and performed--liberated from the page. To my muse, as always, I send my love.


Here's my favorite poem again--What's yours?

"I Will Put Chaos into Fourteen Lines" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will put Chaos into fourteen lines
And keep him there; and let him thence escape
If he be lucky; let him twist, and ape
Flood, fire, and demon--his adroit designs
Will strain to nothing in the strict confines
Of this sweet Order, where, in pious rape,
I hold his essence and amorphous shape,
Till he with Order mingles and combines.
Past are the hours, the years, of our duress,
His arrogance, our awful servitude:
I have him. He is nothing more or less
Than something simple not yet understood;
I shall not even force him to confess;
Or answer. I will only make him good.

Check out this explanation of the Sonnet form: The Sonnet Form