National Poetry Month

By Terry Orr

So who is your favorite Poet or Poets?

Follow this link to a good list of top poets http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/famous-poet-pictures.htm  with a brief bio of each.

Langston Hughes

(http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83),

I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then. Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

E. E. Cummings

(http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/156)

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond

any experience,your eyes have their silence:

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,

or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers,

you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens

(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and

my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,

as when the heart of this flower imagines

the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility:whose texture

compels me with the color of its countries,

rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens;only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/152)

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

I believe each of us have our favorite poems and poets – and have probably written a few along the way – perhaps you will share some of them with us? We would truly enjoy reading your comments, list of poets and poems.  Thank you.

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Love Note Day – 2012

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By Terry Orr

Having one of your first and very personal love notes read aloud in class can have a significant impact on writing additional ones.  Fortunately, I was brave enough (or maybe stupid enough) to write more – and yes, there were more intercepted to my great embarrassment.

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Expressing one feeling, emotions and love for others just seems natural – and trying to find a different way to express yourself beyond ones love for another.  Writing poetry is one form Love Notes – as telling the special someone they look or smell exceptionally nice.  Perhaps they are glowing or their smile is extremely beautiful.

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You can jot a short love note to the one you love anytime and without any special reason – those often mean the most…

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Happy National Haiku Day

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By Diane Forrest,

I experienced several changes and new experiences  the year I started the 7th grade.  I changed schools, had several teachers, instead of just 1, we moved to a new town, and I was introduced to poetry.  We had poetry studies for 6 weeks, including memorizing poems, reading them, searching for different types, making a journal with them, and even writing them.  I still have my journal, still remember the one I memorized, Trees, by Joyce Kilmer, and I remember the haiku I wrote.

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Today is National Haiku Day.  A Haiku is a very short form of Japanese poetry.  It has 17 syllables, in 3 lines.  Usually 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second line. And 5 in the third.  They are usually about the seasons, or nature.  So why not try your hand at writing some, for some examples, check out this site:  http://www.haiku.com/ below is the haiku I wrote in the 7th grade.

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Pink Flower

Little pink flower

How pretty you are today

The sun shines on you