Some April days, I didn’t write a poem. I read one instead.
Here are many, but not all, of the poems I read this month:
Billy Collins – “Carry”
Billy Collins – “Schoolsville” and others
Sarah Kay – “Montauk” and her commencement keynote at Scripps College (which is near perfect)
Taylor Mali in the house with “Like Lilly Like Wilson” (text)
Nikki Giovanni – “Poetry” and other poems
James Wright’s “A Blessing” which is a classic in my book. Always brings me joy.
It’s not April without e.e. cummings – “In Just”
Marianne Forman,
Rulaine Stokes, and
Joyce Benvenuto read poems at Schulers with me.
Mary Oliver’s poetry (I’m also reading a book she wrote about how to write poetry)
Kevin Hodgson’s amazing blog and poetry
Here’s a blackout poem I wrote and a website to create blackout poems of your own
Here’s one original poem from April 12th —
It’s called
Disconnection Turned Connection
There you go again,
Texting away,
Pretending to give me
Your attention.
So I look out the window
And a sparrow lands
On the wrought iron
Deck chair and looks
Directly at me.
Looks away
Looks at me
Looks away
Looks at me.
I look at you
Then at the sparrow
At you
Then at the sparrow.
I tell the sparrow
About my day,
How that damn umbrella
Drips on me
And the microwave at work
Can’t be counted on.
The sparrow nods
And flies away.
You look up
And see me staring out
The window
Longingly.