Happy Dyngus Day! Happy April Fool’s Day! Happy Easter Monday!

I don’t remember the Easter baskets the Easter Bunny left at my house when I was young, but I remember the baskets left at my grandparents’ house. Each colorful wicker basket had a cousin’s or sibling’s name across the handle, printed in Grandma’s handwriting. There was a dyed egg or two of the deepest, richest colors I’ve ever seen. I’ve never been able to reproduce the colors or perfection–how did she get the eggs out of the cups without scratching the dye?!

Nestled in the grass a panoramic molded sugar egg with an Easter scene inside, the seam of the egg halves and viewing hole rimmed in icing. Then of course the assorted candies: a chocolate bunny, maybe a Russell Stover or Brach’s egg in foil wrapping, and smaller chocolate eggs wrapped in pastel foil, marshmallow eggs with the candied-coating, and Peeps–with strands of Easter grass stuck to its sugary hide. The jellybeans that had been scattered across the top filtered down through the grass and we’d hear them rattle on the bottom of the basket. I’m not sure, but there may have been some candy trading among the cousins, especially for those trying to get rid of the black jellybeans. (My favorites.)

I thought about those baskets as I filled the Grands’ baskets over the weekend. Things have changed. Allergies, dietary choices, and personal preferences (and parental guidelines) had Hubby and me by-passing the seasonal aisles with their colorful displays of cream-filled and peanut butter-filled eggs, bags of jellybeans ranging from original flavored to sour to ‘No Licorice-flavored included’, and chocolates in every shape and flavor, and heading to the safe snacks of popcorn, pistachios, and gummies–which at least were bunny and butterfly shaped. I also tucked in plastic stained-glass kits of Easter eggs and Easter crosses, spring window stickies, a garden frog since they all have garden plots, and a bottle of the ever-popular bubbles. And one very small peanut butter egg. I just had to. Peanut butter is healthy, right?

The baskets and yesterday were nothing like my Easters growing up with extended family around Grandma and Grandpa’s table (both sets at different times of the day). Due to a variety of circumstances, there was no family gathering around this Nana and Papa’s table, so Hubby and I went for a walk on our local greenway–in our wonderful Carolina spring weather–then took his car through the car wash … because our wonderful Carolina spring weather spews its pollen turning all our cars a lovely shade of pastel Easter yellow. Things change.

Liturgically we’re still in the Easter season (like Christmas, it’s not just a day, it’s a season) until Pentecost on May 19^th, but today also begins another ‘season’–the poetry season of National Poetry Month!

I’ve written in previous posts one of my first introductions to poetry–other than nursery rhymes which I didn’t know were poems–was the Ideals magazine I saw on the counter in Casey’s Hardware Store. I was drawn in by its pretty glossy cover. My mom, who couldn’t understand why I wanted the book, loved me enough to buy it for me anyway. The memory is still vivid. I was probably 6 or 7 years-old and just learning to read. The poems then, and mostly still, had a rhyming pattern that made them easy to read and became a way to transition from nursery rhymes to grown-up literature.

Ideals was first published in 1944, and like today, publishes two issues a year–Easter and Christmas– “… of old-fashioned ideals, homey philosophy, poetry, music, inspiration, and art.” according to its website. The writing can be a little ‘sugary’ –like Easter candy–at times, but we all need a little sweetness in our diet.

The Academy of American Poets explains National Poetry this way: Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month is a special occasion that celebrates poets’ integral role in our culture and that poetry matters.

I need little proof poetry matters. I’m thinking of my former classmate, Bob, who’s become a prolific poet in his ‘old age’, writing with humor and poignancy; of our Poetry Society of South Carolina president, Dr. Tamara Miles who’s taken poetry out into the world through her Poetry Trails events, an outdoor poetry experience in South Carolina’s parks; of Rock Hill’s Poets Laureate Angelo Geter, an accomplished spoken word poet in his own right, but also a mentor to young poets as they navigate ways to express themselves through the spoken and written word.

If you’re not a poetry reader, I encourage you to at least give it a try this month. An easy way to sample the poetry banquet is by signing up for Poem-A-Day on the American Academy of Poets website. It’s free and every morning you receive one poem from a contemporary or past poet. Topics and styles vary, and, in many cases, you can hear the poet read and explain his/her work. Hearing poetry aloud allows you to hear the music, whether the poems rhyme or not.

I started off my week with Keats, Shelley, and Atwood, two books of poetry I received as gifts this year, and a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie. We may not have had our traditional Easter feast yesterday, but there was the traditional springtime dessert. I hope your week is off to a wonderful start too. See you next Monday!