Pocket Poems

Where Have All the Poems Gone?

Hi Friends,

It’s come to my attention that some of you noticed a lack of poems in your inbox this month.

For the past many years, I’ve celebrated National Poetry Month by sharing with all of you little bits of what I love about poetry — via one poem per day, delivered to your email inbox, for the duration of the month: 30 days. 30 poems. 30 poets.

One of my weaknesses is that I really suck at doing things half-assed, watered down, or sloppily slapped together; I have an extremely difficult time lowering my standards for myself and my own work — like, to a fault; it’s a problem. This April, I found that I wasn’t gonna be able to do my poem-a-day series all-out, the way it deserves to be done — so I haven’t done it all.

But that’s not right, either. I do still want to celebrate poetry month with each you. So, some thoughts:

1. Send me a poem this April? Include a little note about why it’s a favorite of yours, or why you think it’s a poem I might like, or a comment or a question you have about the poem.

2. Six Aprils’ worth of poem-a-days are yours to revist or explore for the first time here at meetmein811.blogspot.com. Do you have a favorite previous poem-a-day, one that still sticks with you all these Aprils later?

3. I’m going to email you next week about Poem in Your Pocket Day, which is officially April 18 this year, but works well on pretty much any day in April.

4. Brackets! Poets! Powell’s Books! 3 of my favorite things, all rolled into one. Check out Powell’s Books’ new experiment this April, Poetry Madness.

5. A poem! for you! for April! (below) A thank you to Jeannine for reminding me that e.e. cummings has probably written more of my favorite poems specifically about April and spring than any other poet. What other poets do you think might rival Cummings for the (Poet)King of Spring title?

6. As always, you can learn more about National Poetry Month at the website of the Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org.

I hope that you’re all doing well!

Love,
Ellen

when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having—
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
—it’s april(yes,april;my darling)it’s spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)

when every leaf opens without any sound
and wishing is having and having is giving—
but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense
—alive;we’re alive,dear:it’s(kiss me now)spring!
now the pretty birds hover so she and so he
now the little fish quiver so you and so i
(now the mountains are dancing,the mountains)

when more than was lost has been found has been found
and having is giving and giving is living—
but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing
—it’s spring(all our night becomes day)o,it’s spring!
all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky
all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea
(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)

— E.E. Cummings, from XAIPE (1950)

Poem-a-Day April 26: Blame Picasso.

Hello Friends —

I’m happy to report Operation Distribute Pocket Poems in Long Beach was a success! I hope you enjoyed Poem in Your Pocket Day in your own way.

Today’s poem is by the unofficial poet laureate of Berkeley, California, Julia Vinograd — who has been blowing bubbles and recording street life on Telegraph Avenue for the past 40 years. She also holds an MFA from the University of Iowa (that’s like the poetry equivalent of an MBA from Harvard, very fancypants prestigious).

Sometimes reading hurts —
Ellen

WHAT PICASSO DID TO ME

I got this big thick heavy hardcover Picasso book
with pictures, platitudes, basically poundage
and carrying it home I pulled a muscle in my wrist.
My right hand’s gone cubist,
angles askew as Picasso’s women
crying into pointed teeth and sideways jaws.
My wrist throbs with the last scream of Guernica;
I’ve become too historical to haul myself into a bus
or pour tea,
I even use my other hand in the bathroom.
Picasso’s painted me into a corner
where the blind man sits
pulling my muscle on his blue guitar.
In the bullring my wrist’s already trampled
into the bloody sand
among thrown Spanish roses and oranges.
Neither bull nor matador know I’m alive
but I am alive, my wrist hurts.
The wars got into my wrist,
it’s all in the wrist.
Picasso’s using my wrist to paint
curly women and naked minotaurs
and I want my wrist back.
I’d like to throw the book at Picasso,
I want out of his book that bit me,
I’ve got an ace bandage and a grudge
while cubist tears roll down billboard faces.
So the paint won’t leak out. Or the pain.
Or the world spilling out of my wrist, hurting.

Is that a poem in your pocket?

Hello Friends —

Tomorrow, Thursday April 26, is officially Poem in Your Pocket Day, brought to you by the Academy of American Poets — the same folks who bring you National Poetry Month, www.poets.org, and today’s subject line.

Poem in Your Pocket Day makes for an excellent excuse to spread the joy of Poetry Month to even more people! If you’ve never done it before, handing out poems on the street is very fun and rewarding. At first people will think you’re trying to hand them some promotional flyer they’ll then have to go to the trouble of finding a recycling bin for, but then they become pleasantly surprised to discover you’re giving them a little gift that asks nothing in return.

You can find today’s poem and other pocket-prone poems for your own Poem in Your Pocket Day celebration in print-your-own-at-home PDF format here. And here’s the best part: no one really knows, nor does it particularly matter, which day is actually Poem in Your Pocket Day — you can hand out poems to strangers any day, particularly any day in April.

Enjoy.
Ellen

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

“Dust of Snow” by Robert Frost was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 16, 2007 and Poem-a-Day April 4, 2010.
Poet Robert Frost was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 30, 2008.

Poem-a-Day, April 27: The Look

The Look

Strephon kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.

Strephon’s kiss was lost in jest,
Robin’s lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin’s eyes
Haunts me night and day.

By Sara Teasdale from Rivers to the Sea (1915)

“The Look” by Sara Teasdale was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 8, 2008.

Poem-a-Day, April 29: cool.

THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Forgive me, Gwendolyn Brooks. I know you get annoyed that this is the poem a disproportiate number of textbook and anthology editors have chosen to represent your entire body of work, but I just really like this one. Plus it fits nicely in the pockets of strangers on the street.

You can find this and other pocket-prone poems for your own Poem in Your Pocket Day celebration in print-your-own-at-home PDF format here. I am also very excited about a project Citizen Hope is doing in San Francisco on April 30 — organizing volunteers to read poems to elementary school students in San Francisco: Check it out here.

Poem in Your Pocket Day is brought to you by the Academy of American Poets, the same folks who bring you National Poetry Month and www.poets.org.

Poem-a-Day, April 28: What can I say? Another crow.

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

— Robert Frost, New Hampshire (1923),
also included in Collected Poems (1969)

Hi Friends —

April 29 was Poem in Your Pocket Day, and I had intentions of sending y’all a batch of pocket poems on the 28th so you could print and hand them out on 29th. But, here’s the thing: no one really knows, nor does it particularly matter, which day is actually Poem in Your Pocket Day. So I see no problem whatsoever with handing out pocket poems on the 30th. “Dust of Snow” is, in my opinion, a perfect poem for handing out to random strangers on the street outside the subway exit — which is where you’ll find me tomorrow morning before work. If you are so inspired or inclined, please feel free to make any day Poem in Your Pocket Day — for yourself, for others. More pocket-sized poems from this and past years’ poem-a-day series in print-your-own-at-home PDF format here.

I am also very excited about a project Citizen Hope is doing in San Francisco tomorrow — organizing volunteers to read poems to elementary school students in San Francisco. Check it out here.

“Dust of Snow” by Robert Frost was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 16, 2007.
Poet Robert Frost was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 30, 2008.

Poem-a-Day, April 29: Do I dare disturb the universe?

Hello Friends,

The line pictured above comes from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot, which can be read in full here.

One of the Academy of American Poets projects for National Poetry Month 2009 has been compiling photos of poetry out and about in our daily lives. View today’s and more poem photos at http://www.flickr.com/groups/freeverse/pool/.

Also, tomorrow, April 30, 2009, is Poem in Your Pocket Day! Poets and poetry enthusiasts will be handing out thousands of poems near subway stops in New York City, and on the streets and in schools and offices in other cities across the U.S. (which is pretty awesome if you ask me). More on poems ideal for pockets here.

Enjoy.
Ellen