“Most people do not believe in anything very much and our greatest poetry is given to us by those who do.” Cyril Connolly
April is National Poetry Month so here is one to start you off.
Little Bunnies
Bunnies are so very little,
they are also very brittle.
So when you pick one up,
be sure your hands are in a cup.
And don’t pick one up too often,
or you’ll be putting it in a coffin.
Kim~4th grade
OK, maybe not great poetry, but this is the first poem I remember writing. Thankfully my poems have gotten a bit more sophisticated since and most of my publishing credits are poems. But this poem illustrates an important point – I witnessed something, it evoked an emotional response, and I had to write about it. That’s the seed of poetry. Poems, in turn, can cause us to react with strong emotions.
Join me this month as I celebrate POETRY. I can already hear the groans. I think they’re coming from all the way back in high school, junior high and elementary school when we had to analyze what the poet meant and how we felt, pound out the rhythms on our desks, and learn terms like alliteration and onomatopoeia – which by the way are fun poetic devises. It’s hard to celebrate something when there’s so much work involved. So I hereby grant you permission not to work. Just read and see what happens.
My Cottage Quote asks a basic question – can poetry matter? It’s a question I hope all of us explore over the next month. During the month I’ll tell you about some Field Trips and encourage you to take some of your own. Beginning today, On the Bookshelf will be lists of poets. I challenge you to visit your library or on-line and see what’s there. If you’ve not read poetry lately you might be surprised. Each week the Writer’s Window will open onto a different poet. Today it’s me. Next week it will be friend who was recently nominated for a Pushcart Award – pretty prestigious. The following week will be another friend, a contemporary Renaissance Man – poet, painter, poetry journal editor and open mic host.
Who knows? Maybe by the end of April some of you will be writing poetry. And it will be Easter so maybe some Little Bunny poems?
A Writer's Window 