National Poetry Month

In case you didn’t know it already, April is National Poetry Month in the US! 

I am by no means an expert on poetry, but I’ve grown from an ambivalent reader who found poems confusing at first to someone who has grown to love it. 

In my school days, we learnt a lot of poetry as part of our English curriculum. It intimidated me at first but I soon got the hang of it. Here are a few of my favourite poems from school:

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Home they brought her warrior dead by Lord Alfred Tennyson

The Frog and the Nightingale by Vikram Seth

You can also join the Poetry Challenge on Writer’s Digest here.

Nowadays I read the poetry that fills the pages of the literary journals I read regularly or subscribe to, and I also subscribe to A Poem a Day.  

This is a wonderful way to keep in touch with poetry. Every day a brief new shiny poem will show up in your inbox and need not steal more than a few minutes of your schedule to read it and absorb the beauty of words. 

I believe reading poetry even if one doesnt write it can help writers appreciate the beauty and lyricism of words and recognize the beats in their own writing better. 

Though most poetry is non-rhyming these days, I’ve written a mix of poems, including limericks, rhymes and the like. You can read some of my poems here (scroll down to the end). 

Do you read poetry at all? If you do, what are your favourite poems? If you write poetry, please do share some links for us all to enjoy!