April 17 is Poem in Your Pocket day. The idea is that everyone should carry a poem in their pocket all day long and randomly– and not so randomly– take it out and share it with others. I love poetry. I started as a poet before adding nonfiction to the fold. And I covet poems like some people covet cupcakes. Let’s be honest, I covet and claim poems the way that I covet and claim cupcakes.
I have nowhere to go on April 17 (my favorite kind of day). I’ll spend the day writing, reading, and getting some exercise on my own, and so I don’t really have anyone with whom to share the poems that I would put in my pocket so I’ve decided to go virtual. And because I love poems like I love cupcakes, one is not enough. Here, a potpourri of some of my favorite poems with links to get you to the complete bite of all of them. But, here’s the thing. You know how I hoard and covet so share your favorite poems with me, too in the comments section. That way, we can all sit back content, fully sated on this feast of words.
From “What Women Want” by Kim Addonizio:
I want to walk like I’m the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
From “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver
I, Too by Langston Hughes
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–
From “Love After Love” by Derek Walcott
From “A Week in the Life of the Ethnically Indeterminate” by Elena Georgiou
Monday
Sitting in MacDonalds on 103rd & 3rd
I notice a couple staring at me
and hear them say Indian.
They walk towards me.
The woman has white skin,
blond hair, blue eyes.
The man has ebony skin,
black hair, brown eyes.
Excuse me, says the woman,
we were wondering
where you were from.
Yeah, says the man
because you look like
our people.
I look at the whiteness
and the blackness,
wondering who their people are.
We’re Puerto Rican, they say
and walk away.
I didn’t get a chance to go out today either, but I appreciate that you shared your favorite poems here on your blog. I like the spirit behind this day of sharing poetry. The ones you picked are so beautiful.