Director’s Blog: April 2021

Hello everyone. Just as spring arrives, new possibilities are on the horizon. Let’s collectively begin the journey from the devastation of the pandemic to heightened hopes and dreams. 

Reading can move us from that sojourn of COVID-19 to remembering old things, or to learning new ones. That is why this is one of my favorite months of the year when it comes to celebrations and observances. April is National Poetry Month. It takes me back to my childhood when teachers taught every type of poetry form known to man, starting with Haiku. I discovered a great love for the classics, and to this day, a good book of poetry is one of my favorite things to read. 

Many compilations of beautiful and timeless love poems such as those of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Rumi bring back fond memories. The memories are of words that sound almost like music when read aloud. A lot of those words have filled my mind and heart all my life. From elementary school through high school and into college, many of us were introduced to the works of John Keats; Edgar Allan Poe; Robert Frost; Nikki Giovanni; Emily Dickinson; Maya Angelou; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Langston Hughes; Walt Whitman, and numerous other poets; some anonymous. 

It has been amazing how some poems stay with us, long past those days in school or college. Some of them helped to form our sense of purpose; or gave shape to the kind of human beings we might aspire to grow into through the years. There were two such poems for me. They are If, by Rudyard Kipling and Myself by Edgar A. Guest. Two of the most vivid memories I recall center around being required to memorize those two poems. Those words still ring true to me and I have shared them with many school kids, adults and with my own family members. 

During April, take some time to read a few poems. Recall your favorite poems and why they fall into that category for you. Perhaps you can carry a poem in your pocket from time to time and share it. Send a short one to a friend. It may bring a smile to them or brighten their day.