April is National Poetry Month which, for most non-poets, is probably about as exciting as a PBS pledge drive. I mean, who cares about poetry when the daffodils are out and the sun stays up until 7?
But spring is the perfect time to check out a book of poetry, and take it with you to the park. Here are a few springy suggestions of what to read.
Have you ever wandered lonely as a cloud? Does your heart dance with the daffodils? Pick up a volume of William Wordsworth, an English poet from the early Romantic period who wrote:
I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Does spring put a song in your heart? Many poets are inspired by the rhythms of jazz, and my favorite among them is Brooklyn’s Michael S. Harper. Here’s a bit from For Bud, written as an elegy to the great jazz pianist Bud Powell:
Sugar waltzing
back into dynamite,
sweetest left hook you
ever dug, baby;
Or, if you’re a gloomier sort, then Gwendolyn Brooks may appeal to you.
I shall not sing a May song.
A May song should be gay.
I'll wait until November
And sing a song of gray.
Your options are infinite; browse the shelves, or our online catalog, today.
- Guest post from BPL’s Meredith Walters, Manager, Adult Programs
