Write a Love Poem for Poetry Month

Here’s an essay by Garrison Keillor inviting folks to write a love poem for Poetry Month which is just around the corner in April.

Take a look at the article if for no other reason but that it is not about politics, like most newspaper articles these days seem to be. In this short piece Keillor pokes gentle fun at some well-studied poems, several of which are ones I’ve memorized. Being familiar with them makes it especially entertaining to read the references.

I also share this invitation to write a poem because it fits the main theme and goal of this blog: to offer suggestions for ways to add a little literary to life. I have experienced the benefits and enjoyed the fun of doing literary activities like writing, collecting words, memorizing poems, hosting literary events, and more, besides just reading. Reading is great, but by itself its a one-way street. Putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard turns your literary life into a two-way street, much healthier, much more fun.

Here’s the final paragraph of the essay.

This is what you learn during Poetry Month. You may lose the vote, fall into debt, suffer illness and remorse, feel lost in the crowd, and yet there is in language, everyday language, a source of such sweet delight that when you turn it to a good purpose, two gentle arms may reach around your neck, just as is happening to me right now, and a familiar voice speaks the words I long to hear and my heart is going like mad and yes, I say, yes I will Yes.

The “sweet delight of everyday language” is very real and is very available to any and all who would like to use and enjoy it.

 

About literarylee

I sling words for a living. Always have, always will. Some have been interesting and fun; most not. These days, I write the fun words early in the morning before the adults are up and make me eat my Cream of Wheat.
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