Reflecting on Poetry Month

Did you know April 27 was Poem In Your Pocket Day? Were you pleasantly surprised by a friend or stranger who shared a poem with you? Some of you might have noticed the hashtag #pocketpoem on social media. Perhaps, when checking out books at the library, you saw our poetry display or our basket of Free-Take-One-Poems printed on tiny scrolls in honour of poetry month. Maybe you have one on your desk or in your pocket now.

If you tend to associate the month of April with taxes, rather than poetry, you aren’t alone. The first Poetry Day started on the steps of a New York post office in 1996 when staff members from the American Academy of Poets handed out copies of T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” to people waiting to send in their income tax returns. The first line being: “April is the Cruelest month...”

April is almost over, but you haven’t missed your chance to explore all things poetic. Poetry is timeless, after all. From tribal storytelling, to sacred scripture, to the songs you sing along to on the radio, to Youtube slam poetry, to the perfect words in the greeting card aisle; poetry has been part of our culture for a long time and there is something within it for everyone.

If poetry doesn’t typically make it onto your reading list, you might be surprised at how enjoyable it can be to read for fun. (Especially if you haven’t read any since you were in school.) If you spend a lot of your reading time searching for information and skimming quickly through entire paragraphs, you might welcome the change of pace that poetry brings.

No time to read? Many poems are short, making them the perfect fit for busy lives and limited attention spans. Emphasizing quality of words rather than quantity of information, poetry encourages us to slow down and reflect, if only for a few minutes.

For Canadian poetry recommendations and the 2017 Poem In Your Pocket booklet, visit www.poets.ca/pocketpoem/

Try a poem a day challenge and see what you discover.

Visit your local library and explore what’s new in poetry today.

Some of my favourite picks, all available at MHPL: “The Princess Saves Herself In This One,” Amanda Lovelace, “Guyku,” Bob Raczka, “The Blue Hour of the Day,” Lorna Crozier, and “Inside Out & Back Again,” Thanhha Lai.

Joleen Gavey is library assistant at Medicine Hat Public Library.