Tag Archives: National Poetry Month 2013

Apr2

National Poetry Month – A Poem In Your Pocket – Where the Sidewalk Ends

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For each day of National Poetry Month – Carry a poem in your pocket and share it with family and friends.  Today, I share with you one of my favorites…

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends

And before the street begins,

And there the grass grows soft and white,

And there the sun burns crimson bright,

And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

And the dark street winds and bends.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And watch where the chalk-white arrows go

To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.

Shel Silverstein

Looking for poems to put in your pocket?  Visit poets.org.

 

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Apr1

April is National Poetry Month – Dear Poet Project

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letters-to-a-young-poet

In the spirit of Rainer Maria Rilke‘s Letters to a Young Poet, in which Rilke replies to letters from a young military cadet and aspiring poet asking for his advice, the Academy of American Poets is inviting students to engage with poetry by handwriting letters to some of the poets who serve on the Academy’s Board of Chancellors.  Please share the information below with the students in your community!

Any young person is encouraged to participate! Here’s how:

1) Read some of the poems written by the Academy’s Chancellors. Here are some suggested poems to read and respond to:

Latin & Soul by Victor Hernández Cruz

Cherry Blossoms by Toi Derricotte

Broadway by Mark Doty

[Where do words come from?]    by Vénus Khoury-Ghata,    translated by Marilyn Hacker

You and I Belong in This Kitchen    by Juan Felipe Herrera

Fall by Edward Hirsch

A Hand by Jane Hirshfield

Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye

Nothing in That Drawer by Ron Padgett

This Bridge, Like Poetry, is Vertigo    by Marie Ponsot

Comet Hyakutake by Arthur Sze

Fast-Speaking Woman by Anne Waldman

2) Compose a one to two page handwritten letter sharing your questions and thoughts about the poem with its author. (Be sure to include your age and grade, along with a return address if you hope to receive a response).

3) Send your letter to:

Dear Poet Project c/o Academy of American Poets75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901

New York, NY 10038

Select letters may receive a reply from the poet and be featured on the Academy’s website, Poets.org!

Source:  http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/619

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