It’s Poem in Your Pocket Day! Celebrate by choosing and sharing a poem you love with others. My choice: the first poem I was ever required to memorize and which I’ve never forgotten, a selection from Sonnets From the Portuguese, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
“Sonnet 43: How Do I Love Thee?”
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love the to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, and tears of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. — Elizabeth Barret BrowningPoetry can be a reminder of the beauty and range of emotion words can convey. It can remind us of a special person, place, or time in our lives. It can open our eyes to a new way of seeing or being in the world. It can set a musical rhythm to the simplest human experience and elevate it to greatness. Once learned by heart, a poem can rarely be unlearned and will be forever “in your pocket,” a valuable treasure that cannot be stolen.
The Academy of American Poets has other suggestions for celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day, listed below. And if you’re late getting the memo, don’t worry. Every day is a good day to share a poem.
* Hand out poems in your school or workplace. * Teachers: reward students “caught” with a poem in their pocket. * Local business owners: offer discounts to those carrying poems. * Start a street team to pass out poems in your community. * Add a poem to your email footer. * Mail a poem to a friend. * Post a poem on your blog or social networking page. Use #pocketpoem on Twitter.Which poem will you choose?
one tiny violet 