Keep a poem in your pocket...

Keep a poem in your pocket and a picture in your head, and you'll never feel lonely at night when you're in bed.  This first verse of a poem by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers puts voice to the national celebration taking place across the U.S. this month.  Yes, it's National Poetry Month and Neill Library has shelves of poetry books just waiting to be checked out and savored. Whether you read them to yourself or someone else, there's something quite moving about the work of poets and the impact they can have on our lives.  No matter the mood, the occasion or the need, there are poems for each and all.

Are you a nature lover? Then, be sure and check out the work of Mary Oliver or Robert Frost. Are you ready to have a good laugh or chuckle come into your day?  Then, look no further than the works of Billy Collins, Shel Silverstein or Spokane's own Kenn Nesbitt.  And for the celebration of ordinary objects in our lives, one must turn to the poems of Valerie Worth.  As a sampling, here is her poem about a safety pin:

Safety pin

Closed, it sleeps
On its side
Quietly,
The silver
Image
Of some
Small fish;

Opened, it snaps
Its tail out
Like a thin
Shrimp, and looks
At the sharp
Point with a 
Surprised eye.

Can one ever look at a safety pin the same way again?   Thus, the power and impact of poetry.  So, head to the library to get yourself a poem (or 2 or 200) to keep in your pocket today!

Kathleen,

Children's Librarian