April Is National Poetry Month

Don’t know how to celebrate National Poetry Month? Try playing Exquisite Corpse, one of 30 Ways to Celebrate suggested by The American Academy of Poets.  Not as ghoulish as it sounds, Exquisite Corpse is played like “Mad Libs,” where each player adds a string of words according to a given formula (for example noun, adjective, verb, noun) without reading what others have written. The result is “a surprising—sometimes absurd—yet often beautiful” collaborative poem.  The Academy also recommends chalking a poem on the sidewalk, packing a poem to read with lunch, or watching a poetry movie like Dead Poet’s Society (one of my all-time favorites!)  You can also celebrate by reading a poem by your favorite poet, or, if you don’t have a favorite poet, checking out The Pushcart Prize: The Best of the Small Presses.  Celebrate poetry all year long at a session of Poetry on Brick Street at Eagle Creek Coffee Company on the 1st Thursday of every month.