April is unrelenting... and since it's here to stay let's celebrate:
You will have a change to write poetry even if you've never done it before—the writing prompts aim to demystify the process of writing a poem. This will not take the place of the 2020 Writing Exercise Series, but will be in addition to it, so there will be a bounty of poetry to feast your eyes upon.
So. Let's begin.
April 12, 2020
National Poetry Month 2020 Activity Pack Day 12
1) One of the fun things about putting together these activity packs is that I'm coming across a lot of videos that only have a few hundred views, but that have great content. To warm up in the poetry realm today, let's learn how to sign a Sara Teasdale poem in American Sign Language in one of those such videos.
2) Now take a little video break and check out some very different reading styles. First we have a very emotive Sage Francis, indie hip hop luminary and former SLAM poet reading his poem Hopeless which appeared on one of my top 5 albums of all time, Personal Journals.
Now check out out this reading of Dylan Thomas reading his famous villanelle "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" in his very distinctive 'poet' voice.
And finally, here is yet another reading style in Sylvia Plath reading her famous poem "Daddy".
3) Now go read one, or preferably all of the following three 'recently' published poems:
"Deaf Rich Boy ‘79" by Raymond Luczak in Lunch Ticket 2019.
"Elegy with a Wavelength of Sound" by William Fargason in The Rupture #107.
"Blur" by James Croal Jackson in Pacifica Literary Review 15.2.
4) Go read all of the following three short poems that were published more than two years ago:
5) Time for a word game! In this case, I'm sending you back in time and space to the wonderful Minnesota public schools in the late-1980-early 90s where the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium reigned like benevolent kings. They brought the world the awesome educational games Number Munchers, Word Munchers, Odell Lake... but of course everyone's favorite Oregon Trail. Anyway, to get you in a rhyming mood, go play one game of Word Munchers, take note of some of the words that either rhyme or share assonance as you play, but have fun. See how high of a score you can get.
