Oldest Poem

"The researchers in Ireland looked at their computer screen, marveling at a medieval book tracked down in a Roman library."https://apnews.com/article/old-english-manuscript-poetry-bede-caedmon-hymn-latin-italy-106769c014901cf06d8a56839d56ac90?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

NATIONAL LIMERICK DAY

"Observed annually on May 12th, National Limerick Day celebrates the birthday of English artist, illustrator, author, and poet Edward Lear (May 12, 1812 – Jan. 29, 1888)."https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celebrations/national-limerick-day-may-12

NATIONAL GREAT POETRY READING DAY

"At the tail end of National Poetry Month, April 28th marks the observance of National Great Poetry Reading Day."https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celebrations/national-great-poetry-reading-day-april-28

Cynthia Wanders My Neighborhood

Thomas Centolella

with the shock of hospice behind her  

and her ashes scattered on her cherished Pacific.   

She’s flipped the hourglass and stopped it at 29,   

when her hair was still chestnut and waving  

to her waist. And because it’s November and nighttime  

she’s wearing one of those vintage wool coats,  

wide lapels, no buttons or belt, a blue nearly gray  

in the foggy noir light of the streetlamps.   

It’s cold enough she has to hold it tight   

against her body. Too cold for the emerald   

silk teddy, or her long tanned legs in b-ball shorts,  

ready for some serious one-on-one. I’m dying   

to stop my steep climb home, turn around and ask her   

if she’s really here, but Orpheus is in my ear,  

warning me not to make that old mistake.  

It’s about trust, I think. Keep moving  

through the gloom of a spinned myth:  

let those you’ve loved come back   

when they’re ready, when you’re ready,   

as if no one were lost to begin with.

End of the Comedy

Louis Untermeyer

Eleven o’clock, 

and the curtain falls.

The cold wind tears the strands of illusion;

The delicate music is lost

In the blare of home-going crowds

And a midnight paper.

The night has grown martial;

It meets us with blows and disaster.

Even the stars have turned shrapnel,

Fixed in silent explosions.

And here at our door

The moonlight is laid

Like a drawn sword.

NATIONAL POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY

"During National Poetry Month in April, National Poem in Your Pocket Day shares the way poetry brings joy by simply carrying one in your pocket."https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celebrations/national-poem-in-your-pocket-day-last-thursday-in-april

NATIONAL HAIKU POETRY DAY

"Observed annually on April 17, National Haiku Poetry Day encourages all to try their hand in creativity."

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celebrations/national-haiku-poetry-day-april-17