Good Ideas from The Academy of American Poets

30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

1. Request a free copy of the National Poetry Month poster until mid-April; posters can be purchased for $5.00 each in our Poets shop thereafter (while supplies list).
2. Sign up for Poem-a-Day and read a poem each morning.
3. Sign up for Teach This Poem, a weekly series for teachers.
4. Memorize a poem.
5. Create an anthology of your favorite poems on Poets.org.
6. Encourage a young person to participate in the Dear Poet project.
7. Buy a book of poetry from your local bookstore.
8. Review these concrete examples of how poetry matters in the United States today.
9. Learn more about poets and poetry events in your state.
10. Ask your governor or mayor for a proclamation in support of National Poetry Month.
11. Attend a poetry reading at a local university, bookstore, cafe, or library.
12. Read a poem at an open mic. It’s a great way to meet other writers in your area and find out about your local poetry writing community.
13. Start a poetry reading group.
14. Write an exquisite corpse poem with friends.
15. Chalk a poem on the sidewalk.
16. Deepen your daily experience by reading Edward Hirsch’s essay “How to Read a Poem.”
17. Ask the United States Post Office to issue more stamps celebrating poets.
18. Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day today! The idea is simple: select a poem you love, carry it with you, then share it with coworkers, family, and friends. 
19. Read about different poetic forms.
20. Read about poems titled “poem.”
21. Watch a poetry movie. 
22. Subscribe to American Poets magazine or a small press poetry journal.
23. Watch Rachel Eliza Griffiths’s P.O.P (Poets on Poetry) videos.
24. Watch or read Carolyn Forche’s talk “Not Persuasion, But Transport: The Poetry of Witness.”
25. Recreate a poet’s favorite food or drink by following his or her recipe. 
26. Read or listen to Mark Doty’s talk “Tide of Voices: Why Poetry Matters Now.”
27. Read Allen Ginsberg’s classic essay about Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”
28. Sign up for a poetry class or workshop.
29. Get ready for Mother’s Day by making a card featuring a line of poetry.
30. Read the first chapter of Muriel Rukeyer’s inspiring book The Life of Poetry.

(All content copied from https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month)

National Poetry Month

     April is National Poetry Month in the United States. According to the Academy of American Poets at www.poets.org/national-poetry-month: 

"National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives. 

While we celebrate poets and poetry year-round, the Academy of American Poets was inspired by the successful celebrations of Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March), and founded National Poetry Month in April 1996 with an aim to:

• highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets,
• encourage the reading of poems,
• assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms,
• increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media,
• encourage increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and 
• encourage support for poets and poetry."

Allow yourself to be re-introduced to poets like:

Langston Hughes--The Negro Speaks of Rivers (To W.E.B. DuBois)

     I've known rivers:

     I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the

                         flow of human blood in human veins.

    I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

    I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

    I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

    I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln

                         went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy

                         bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

    I've known rivers:

    Ancient, dusky rivers.

    My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

And:

Carl Sandburg--Fog

    The fog comes

    on little cat feet.

    It sits looking

   over harbor and city

   on silent haunches

   and then moves on.

And, let's not forget:

Maya Angelou--Country Lover

    Funky blues

    Keen toed shoes

    High water pants

    Saddy night dance

    Red soda water

    and anybody's daughter

Whether you prefer the Haiku, Limerick, Elegy, Epic, Sonnet, or Free Verse, visit your local library to see what all the fuss is about.