National Poetry Month is a month-long, national celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets. The concept is to widen the attention of individuals and the media—to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our complex poetic heritage, and to poetry books and journals of wide aesthetic range and concern.
We hope to increase the visibility and availability of poetry in popular culture while acknowledging and celebrating poetry’s ability to sustain itself in the many places where it is practiced and appreciated.
There are many ways you can participate in National Poetry Month, including:
- Receive a Poem a Day in your inbox. Beginning April 1, Poets.org emails a new poem to your inbox each day to celebrate National Poetry Month. The poems have been selected from new books published in the spring.
- April 27th is Poem in Your Pocket Day. Simply select a poem you love during National Poetry Month, then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends.
You can visit Poets.org for more information and ideas about National Poetry Month.
Submissions for the Connecticut Poetry Award begin April 1st 2023
The Carrying
Ada Limón – 1976-
The sky’s white with November’s teeth,
and the air is ash and woodsmoke.
A flush of color from the dying tree,
a cargo train speeding through, and there,
that’s me, standing in the wintering
grass watching the dog suffer the cold
leaves. I’m not large from this distance,
just a fence post, a hedge of holly.
Wider still, beyond the rumble of overpass,
mares look for what’s left of green
in the pasture, a few weanlings kick
out, and theirs is the same sky, white
like a calm flag of surrender pulled taut.
A few farms over, there’s our mare,
her belly barrel-round with foal, or idea
of foal. It’s Kentucky, late fall, and any
mare worth her salt is carrying the next
potential stake’s winner. Ours, her coat
thicker with the season’s muck, leans against
the black fence and this image is heavy
within me. How my own body, empty,
clean of secrets, knows how to carry her,
knows we were all meant for something.