April is National Poetry Month and you know what that means! I’m dredging up my elementary school memory of poetry to try and help us all stave off the quarantine madness!
Please be advised, this is not a collection of poems for anyone with either taste or reason.
1.
Thank God it’s April
March lasted way too darn long
Also, here’s some poems.
2.
If you’re getting bored
Binge watching The Tiger King*
Try reading a poem
*Disclaimer, I know The Tiger King isn’t boring. It’s a popular culture reference made to get your attention and serve as an allegory for mindless consumption or something like that.
3.
I know not everyone likes poems
There’s nothing wrong with that.
But while we’re all locked in at home,
I think it’s time we chat.
April is a month of words,
Of melody and rhyme.
Of symbols, truths and gleaming worlds—
I swear it’s worth your time!
I admit some poems do suck, you’re right
And you might count this among those few.
But on the whole, poetry’s alright,
It just feels different or new.
So pick up a collection or just google “Poe”
And get scared out of your mind,
Or fall in love with Joy Harjo
Or Angelou or Wilde.
The point of my short silly rhyme
is that since we’re all stuck,
You have to do something to pass the time
Try a poem—you might be in luck.
Poems are fun way to get creative or kill some time. If you’d like to check out some poetry on your own, I recommend the Poetry Foundation’s Poem a Day! It’s a nice introduction to poetry and it’s not overwhelming like a whole book of poetry.
Interested in learning more about Haikus? A beautiful and ancient tradition that I desecrated earlier? Check out this informative Wikipedia page.
Already a poetry fan? Check out some of our ebooks on poetry! We’ve got ebooks on how to read poetry, about teaching people to write poetry, we’ve got books with essays on the depiction of science in poetry, we’ve got anthologies galore! Poems from women in Ireland? Got it. Children’s poems from the middle ages? Got it.
Just a quick search for “poetry” in the library’s Quick Search can reveal a lot! To limit your selection to just ebooks, select the “Full Text Online” filter and the “books/ebooks” filter under Content Type.
Emily Metcalf
Instructional Services Librarian and Bard
