Mixing it up for National Poetry Month

A Loaf of Poetry by Koriyama Naoshi
you mix
the dough
of experience
with
the yeast
of inspiration
and knead it well
with love
and pound it
with all your might
and then
leave it
until
it puffs out big
with its own inner force
and then
knead it again
and
shape it
into a round form
and bake it
in the oven
of your heart.

Today is the first day of National Poetry Month in the U.S. and U.K. And what better way to celebrate than by continuing to post a poem a month for the next thirty days! 

Today is also April Fool's Day. 

April Fool's. 

After six weeks of posting every day*-- sometimes barely before the day had ended but still every day-- I need a break.  Most of my writing time and energy has gone into this blog since mid-March and there are some pieces of writing I had been working on that are crying out for my attention.  Plus, reading the forty-odd poems I've posted for Lent, in addition to the hundreds (thousands?) of others I read and considered but didn't end up posting, was a great reminder of how much I need to really hone my craft.  So instead of posting a poem a day during April, my intention is to write a poem a day. 

And no, that's not an April Fool's bit of folly.  I am going to roll up my sleeves each day and start mixing it up.  It will be a challenge for me because my practice of writing poems has always been linked to moments of divine inspiration-- so really not as much a practice as a whim.

Realizing this, I'm arming myself with resources to get me started-- forms to play with, books with writing exercises, an idea for a series of biographic poems, writing prompts from theNaPoWriMo website (National Poetry Writing Month) and of course my old stand by, Lectio Divina.  All these will all serve as the leavening when the natural yeast of inspiration isn't making the writing rise. 

So that's how I'll be marking the month.  If you want to join in the official celebration, check out the list of events sponsored by The Poetry Foundation here or the information on the website of the Academy of American Poets, who inaugurated the celebration in 1996.  Unofficially, you can celebrate by making a commitment to read more poetry this month.  Check out an anthology from your local library or browse poetry websites such as The Poetry Foundation or Poetry Chaikhana to discover a new-to-you poet.  Re-read your favorite poets.  Try to commit a poem to heart or share a copy with a friend . . . even better, share a poem with a stranger.  (Try this on April 18, National Poem in Your Pocket Day.) 

And maybe, just maybe, you could try writing a poem or two or thirty this month as well . . .


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* If you're a regular reader, you may have noticed I didn't post on Friday and Saturday.  That was a deliberate decision after agonizing for hours trying to find a Good Friday poem that spoke to my feelings about the season.  I finally decided that no poetry, no words, no images, just silence was the best way for me to mark the journey from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.