Poetry: Solitude and Solace

National Poetry Month 2020 Official Poster

This national poetry month finds us in a world of social distancing, but also at a time when it is easier than ever to reach out to each other from our separate places of physical isolation and interconnect. We are struggling, together, to deal with being apart; we are coping with grief, with fear, with rage; we are searching for ways to process and express the maelstrom of emotions that mark our days. What better time, then, for poetry? Whether we turn to the words of a poet for inspiration, comfort, or perhaps to find an expression of feelings which we have found to be beyond our own words, reading a poem can enrich our days. Or we can take a page out of Emily Dickinson's book and, although our isolation is for a much different purpose from hers, we can nonetheless turn the thoughts of our solitude indoors into poems.
     Mary has already shared some excellent poetry resources that we can all use to celebrate poetry while staying at home. I would add that Sir Patrick Stewart is making some excellent poetry readily available to all of us by reading a sonnet a day (you can find his videos on his various social media). There are many free sources of poetry online (Poetry Foundation and Poetry.org are good places to start), and for those of us who are in a situation to be able to do so, now is also an excellent time to support poets and small poetry publications by purchasing chapbooks and subscribing to poetry journals.
     What are your favorite poems? Do you write poetry yourself? Share in the comments.
     Stay safe, everyone. May you find solace from poetry in this difficult time.

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T. S. Eliot's
The Waste Land

opening lines

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Portland Lilac, photo by Sassy Gardener (http://www.oregonlive.com/living/gardening/weblog/)