Wanting to never be complacent, I checked once more, still April 2020 and...
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 16, 2020
National Poetry Month 2020 Activity Pack Day 16
1) Let's begin with Li-Young Lee today. I've dug up two very interesting videos that both have a couple poems read and the poet discussing editing, his relationship with poetry (including the insane schedule he kept for a number of years, editing and much more).
In this first segment, from the PBS show "A Movable Feast" from the early 90s, the poet reads from his long poem "Always a Rose", tells some of his crazy biography about his childhood, then his punishing journey in poetry and reads some more from the long poem.
The second video starts off with a reading of the poems "Eating Alone" and "Eating Together" and he talks about editing and much more.
And here is a video of Li-Young Lee reading one of my favorites of his, From Blossoms.
2) TV TIME! Let's start off with the Poetry Everywhere video of Galway Kinnell reading his poem of love and parenting "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps"
For something completely different, but still good and entertaining, here is a piece of spoken word and an accompanying video by the young poet Timmy Sutton from the Button Poetry channel called "Hands".
And now let's watch T.S. Eliot Prize and MacArthur Fellow Ocean Vuong perform his poem "Head First" for Page Meets the Stage.
3) Now go read one, or preferably all of the following three 'recently' published poems:
"Lumberjacks Pound Their Dead into the Ground" by Michael Mark in Cutbank Weekly Flash Prose and Prose Poetry January 7, 2020.
"Sublet, Pay-Later System" by Mira Rosenthal in Subtropics Issue 26 (Fall/Winter 2018).
"Lines Written on Jasper Beach, Machiasport, Maine" by K.A. Hays in Los Angeles Review Online.
4) Go read all of the following three short poems that were published more than two years ago:
5) Let's watch one more short reading. Why not. Linda Pastan reading "Why Are Your Poems So Dark?" from the Poetry Everywhere channel.
6) The time machine is set to June 6th, 2019 for this "A Boy and his Bug" Ekphrastic exercise, using an awesome photo by photographer Arturo Sortillo. Go, be inspired! Let your eyes spark a poem!
