7 Upbeat Poems to Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day (with printable PDFs)
Check out these seven upbeat and whimsical poems from ASP authors; print one out for Poem in Your Pocket Day!
What is Poem in Your Pocket Day?
Poem in Your Pocket Day was created by the Office of the Mayor of New York City in 2002 in partnership with the New York Department of Cultural Affairs and Education. Its goal is to reintroduce poetry, a traditionally performative art, into social situations and normal everyday life. As such, PIYPD marks the end of National Poetry Month, bringing the lessons of the month out into the rest of the year.
Poets.org teaches us how to participate (in the age of Covid-19):
"It's easy to participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day from a safe distance. Here are some ideas of how you might get involved:
- Select a poem and share it on social media using the hashtag #PocketPoem.
- Print a poem and draw an image from the poem in the white space, or make an origami swan.
- Record a video of yourself reading a poem, then share it on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or another social media platform you use.
- Email a poem to your friends, family, neighbors, or local government leaders.
- Schedule a video chat and read a poem to your loved ones.
- Add a poem to your email footer.
- Read a poem out loud from your porch, window, backyard or outdoor space."
Here are SEVEN awesome poems from Alan Squire Publishing poets you can print and share on PIYPD!
Locator by Grace Cavalieri
Love Poem by Elizabeth Hazen
Elegy for the One Step Down by Reuben Jackson
House by Linda Watanabe McFerrin
I'm in Love with the Morton Salt Girl by Richard Peabody
The Last Girl by Rose Solari
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Katherine E. Young
Featured Poetry: “Winter Funeral” by Elizabeth Hazen
Fully embracing what the lyric mode does best, Hazen provides the readers with brief, intense poems that preserve a suspended moment in time, attempting to record the thought processes and emotions of the speaker much like tree rings reveal drought, heat, and age. With astonishing clarity and concision, Hazen explores the mysteries of our realities—which are ultimately beholden to entropy.
Grace Cavalieri on the Kojo Nnamdi Show Jan 23rd
Recently Governor Larry Hogan announced that Grace Cavlieri, poet, playwright, and long time host of NPR’s The Poet and The Poem, would become Maryland’s next Poet Laureate, succeeding the great Stanley Plumly. Now that she has been inaugurated, one of her first stops is The Kojo Nnamdi show. Kojo Nnamdi has been hosting his show on WAMU for 20 years, so he and Grace are kindred spirits in that regard–Grace has hosted The Poet and The Poem for over 40 years.
A Short Thought on Grace’s Interview with Jorie Graham (by Writer, Nin Andrews)
Nin Andrews is a poet. Most recently of Miss August which is out now from the awesome Cavankerry Press and most notably of the collection, Why God is a Woman. Nin Andrews is also a fan of Grace Cavalieri’s interview with Jorie Graham which she recently extolled over on ITN.