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An open letter for National Poetry Month

by Shoshana Flax
Apr 26, 2016 | Filed in Blogs
Dear Mr. Silverstein,
dear Ms. Goose,
dear Mr. Prelutsky,
dear Dr. Seuss,
dear Mr. Hughes,
and dear Ms. Frost,
I’m writing to confess
that I’ve sometimes lost
whatever connects me
to a chapbook or a slam
though a big fan of poetry
I am. Iamb!
It’s just that the volume
of volumes of plot
can fill every bookshelf
and schedule slot
and sequels and prequels
in pages of prose
can make my attention
forget what it knows:
that meter, when minded,
and free verse, when found
can make not just meaning,
but feeling, abound.
Now, poems surround me.
Each April, I learn
that poems, like petals,
will always return.

Happy National Poetry Month! Look for the What Makes Good Poetry? edition of our What Makes a Good...? e-newsletter on Thursday, April 27th. Not subscribed? Sign up here.

Shoshana Flax

Shoshana Flax, associate editor of The Horn Book, Inc., is a former bookseller and holds an MFA in writing for children from Simmons University. She has served on the Walter Dean Myers Award, Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and Sydney Taylor Book Award committees.

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Shoshana

Love it, Steven!

Posted : Apr 27, 2016 12:42

Steven Withrow

Curses! our verses Get so little play. We read them in April, Forget them by May. The only thing worse is (It's first among worst): Read one month of poems, And they call you well-versed.

Posted : Apr 27, 2016 12:42

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