Weekend Writing: Celebrating National Poetry Month

April is one of my favorite literary months because it's National Poetry Month. Since 1996, the Academy of American Poets has designated April as National Poetry Month to encourage others to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. While I choose to appreciate the literary genre every day, I love that readers and writers unite during this month and share their love for poetry with each other. We should do it more often!

(photo/Words Dance Publishing)

For many of you, I don't have to tell you poetry is a beautiful genre. You already know that. But, to those of you who are reading this post and don't appreciate poetry (like I did during high school), poetry doesn't have to be "scary." Poetry doesn't even have to be difficult to understand. Yes, it might feel like a foreign language at times, but maybe that's just because you haven't found the right poet. You haven't found the right style of poetry--because every poem is different. Maybe you prefer free verse poetry. Maybe you prefer prose poems that have a narrative arc. Maybe you prefer a formal structure, like Shakespeare's sonnets.

To discover the poems that work for you, you have to begin by reading. Read samples from a variety of poets to determine which style you like best. The results might surprise you.

To help you on this journey, I'm providing a list of some of my favorite poets and the poems I recommend reading. Once you are introduced to these poets, you'll never forget about them.

You might even grow to love poetry. Speaking from my own experience, once you fall in love with poetry, you can't go back. Read these works and so many more this month...and every month that follows.

• Robert Frost: "The Road Not Taken"; "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" 
• Walt Whitman: "I Hear America Singing"; "O Captain! My Captain!"
• Maya Angelou: "Caged Bird"; "Still I Rise"
• Langston Hughes: "Let America Be America Again"; "I, Too"
• Sylvia Plath: "Daddy"; "Lady Lazarus"
• Gwendolyn Brooks: "We Real Cool"; "The Bean Eaters"
• T.S. Eliot: "Portrait of a Lady"; "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
• Edgar Allan Poe: "Annabel Lee"; "A Dream Within a Dream"
• John Keats: "This living hand, now warm and capable"
• Elizabeth Bishop: "One Art"; "The Fish"
• Emily Dickinson: "Because I could not stop for Death--"; "'Hope' is the thing with feathers"
• Anne Sexton: "Wanting to Die"; "The Black Art"

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(photo/PictureQuotes.com)

As you can see, poetry is one of the most beautiful forms of art. Poets pour out their hearts. Their works are precious and they should always be celebrated. 

Let's celebrate poets this month and every month that follows. If you don't like poetry, try to open yourself up to the genre. I hope you have discovered a poet you understand and who speaks to you in ways you never once imagined. 

I certainly never imagined poetry would have such an intense effect on my life, but that's what happened. Poetry allows me a safe place to share my thoughts and feelings. When I write a poem, I tap into my creativity in a way I can't experience in fiction writing. Poetry is special, and I'll be forever grateful to my college professor who introduced me to the beauty of the genre.

We need poetry...because the poets often need us, too. 

-KJL-