Tomorrow begins National Poetry Month for 2022. In the St. Croix Valley, much of the celebration will focus on the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read of US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s An American Sunrise. There’s also a traveling exhibit of the work of Minnesota’s Poet Laureate, Gwen Nell Westerman.
As if that’t not enough, check out:
30 Ways to Celebrate the 25th Annual National Poetry Month at Home or Online
Sign-up for Poem-a-Day, curated this month by award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye, and read a poem each morning.
Sign-up to receive a free National Poetry Month poster, featuring lines by U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, or download the PDF and display it for the occasion.
Read 2021’s most-read poem by a contemporary poet, Amanda Gorman’s “In This Place (An American Lyric).”
Record yourself reading a poem, and share why you chose that work online using the hashtag #ShelterinPoems. Be sure to tag @poetsorg on Twitter and Instagram!
Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day podcast.
Check out an e-book of poetry from your local library.
Begin your virtual meetings or classes by reading a poem.
Talk to the teachers in your life about Teach This Poem and encourage students in grades 5 - 12 to participate in the Dear Poet project.
Learn more about poets and virtual poetry events nationwide.
Read about your state poet laureate.
Browse Poems for Kids.
Buy a book of poetry from your local bookstore.
Browse the glossary of terms and try your hand at writing a formal poem.
Create an online anthology of your favorite poems on Poets.org.
Organize a poetry reading, open mic, or poetry slam via a video conferencing service.
Sign up for an online poetry class or workshop.
Donate books of poetry to little free libraries and mutual aid networks.
Research and volunteer with poetry organizations in your area.
Take a socially safe walk and write a poem outside.
Start a virtual poetry reading group or potluck, inviting friends to share poems.
Read and share poems about the environment in honor of Earth Day.
Take on a socially safe guerrilla poetry project.
Read essays about poetry like Edward Hirsch’s “How to Read a Poem,” Mary Ruefle’s “Poetry and the Moon,” Mark Doty’s “Tide of Voices: Why Poetry Matters Now,” and Muriel Rukeyser’s “The Life of Poetry.”
Write an exquisite corpse or a renga with friends via email or text.
Share a poem for Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 29, 2021, on social media using the hashtag #PocketPoem.
Attend Poetry & the Creative Mind on April 29, 2021, a free, virtual reading of favorite poems in celebration of 25 years of National Poetry Month.
Make a gift to support the Academy of American Poets free programs and publications and keep celebrating poetry year-round!
so you want to be a writer?
Charles Bukowski - 1920-1994
if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.there is no other way.
and there never was.
********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.
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