National Poetry Day

Today is National Poetry Day in Britain. It is an annual celebration where the nation has poetry events, and poems are read on the radio and TV. The National Poetry Day website has lesson plans and links to blogs written by poets. There's also an interesting photo gallery on Flickr (which you can find by going to the National Poetry Day website and clicking on the Flickr link). This photo gallery displays poems in public places--even a guy's t-shirt in a pub--and you can add your own.

I just love this entire idea of National Poetry Day and especially of finding poetry in public places. I'm sure it is not a new idea, and I'm sure I've seen plenty of poetry in public places, but I just never paid attention to it before. Well, I am going to change that today!

While looking for photos for this post on Flickr.com , I found this cool photo by Sister72. Here's what she has to say about this photo:

"BELMAR: In celebration of the Autumnal Equinox, Belmar Arts Council will sponsor Poem Henge today and Sunday on the beach. Three dozen discarded refrigerator doors will be erected in the shape of Stonehenge, the ancient ruins in England. Local artists and art students will paint words onto magnets from poems created by members of the Blue Collective. "

This is the coolest idea ever! And I am not a poet. I've written some poems and even had some published, but I don't consider myself anywhere near "poet" status. But I definitely realize that there are some subjects that writers want to write about, and the only way we can do it is with a poem. This has actually happened to me--I wanted to write about the Trail of Tears--it came out in a poem. Same thing for September 11th and human trafficking. The strong emotions connected with these events and issues just lend themselves to poetry for me. I'm sure all writers have felt this way, and those poets just have it down better than the rest of us.

So, no matter where you live in the world, take a moment today to celebrate poetry. Read a favorite poem, write a poem, find poetry in public places. If you know a poet, thank them for their contribution to the beauty of language. And then get excited because the United States has an entire National Poetry month in April!

Happy poem writing!
Margo Dill
http://margodill.com/blog/