Poetic Day 1 of National Poetry Month
Poetic Day 1 of National Poetry Month: April 1, 2019
Thanks to the Academy of American Poets, we celebrate poetry each April. Thus, on this first of April, let the celebration begin!
In 1996, the Academy of American Poets introduced and organized National Poetry Month to amplify the awareness and appreciation of Poetry in the United States of America.
On this very cool, spring morning, I decided to kick off National Poetry Month in a quiet way–with a whisper of poetry. Inspired by the lovely short poems of Valerie Moreno and Joan Myles–fellow members of Leonard Tuchyner’s Critique Group Two of Behind Our Eyes (an organization of writers with disabilities)–I chose to write a short poem. Since I more often write poems of about fifty lines or well over fifty lines, I selected the form of an acrostic poem to limit my number of lines. The word “whisper” forms the stem of my acrostic and sets the number of lines at only seven. After my acrostic poem, I will share a few prompts for this first day of National Poetry Month.
Secret Acrostic Whisper
by Alice Jane-Marie Massa
Wink words–
hardly audible–
in inner rhyme,
sentences spiced
poetic.
Endearing exclamation point
rounds out acrostic just in time!
* * *
PROMPTS FOR APRIL 1, 2019
- Using the stem word “whisper,” write your own seven-line acrostic.
- Write a poem of any form that includes “whisper” in the title and/or first line.
- Write a poem which includes the word “whisper” in the final line.
- Write a poem whose final word is the word “whisper.”
- Using another “sound” word or phrase, write a poem in your poetic form of choice.
Next, share your “whisper” poem in the comment section of this blog or wherever you wish to share your poem during National Poetry Month. Can we create a chain of poetic whispers?
Best wishes for a creative, productive, and fund National Poetry Month!
Alice and Leader Dog Willow
April 1, 2019, Monday
alice13wordwalk 
You inspired me to write spring poems with my prekindergarten students, Alice. Each child dictated a sentence beginning with “Spring is. . .” I placed the lines in alphabetical order by the child’s first name to create two poems, one for the Monday/Wednesday class and one for the Tuesday/Thursday class. The poems turned out to be rhythmical and fun! The children illustrated their own sentences, and all illustrations were hung on the wall along with a copy of each poem. We were excited about our adventure into poetry, thanks to you!
Love, Mary
Hi, Mary–I was so glad to hear about your classroom efforts for marking National Poetry Month. What a good first poetic experience for the four- and five-year-old students! Thanks for sharing your ideas here on WORDWALK.
“Hello” to the little poets–Alice and Willow