Happy National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month! A national celebration of poetry and its place in American culture.

The Academy of American Poets has posted 30 Ways to Celebrate--one way to honor poetry for each day of the month. My favorite is to put a poem in a letter. We hardly send good old-fashioned postal mail anymore. I like the idea of making it even more special by including a bit of verse.

I don't read enough poetry, but when I do, I always enjoy it so much! Here are some my favorite bards:

• Billy Collins (because his poems are about discovery in everyday things and life)
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning (because hers are so beautiful)
• Emily Dickinson (because she is so doggone mysterious...)
• Langston Hughes (because everything he writes has a soul)
• Alfred Lord Tennyson (because "The Lady of Shalott always reminds me of Anne of Green Gables)

What's on my to read list? Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. I bought a beautiful used copy at this wonderful little bookstore near home. I have read snippets of it, but would really like to sit down and read the whole thing through. Whitman's journey through poetry is pretty fascinating.