April Is Poetry Month

Before we get too far into the month of April, I want to give a plug for National Poetry Month. I often have poetry on my blog, and try to put a special emphasis on poetry during the month of April. It was last April that I posted a brief instructional post on writing haiku, and it generated so much interest that I started a new weekly feature on the blog that I call Saturday Haiku. This month I will post a few new poems, and maybe an old poem or two throughout the month.

Today I would like to call attention to Garrison Keillor's excellent daily presentation of poetry in his radio program, A Writer's Almanac. It is a five-minute broadcast that airs on many Public Radio stations and always presents a poem along with interesting information about poets and writers. It airs on WUAL 95.1 FM in Tuscaloosa, AL just before 9:00 am. It is a great thing to hear in the morning, and I always take heart when I catch it on the radio. I am usually not near a radio at that time of day, but the program can found online at http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org. You can also "Like" The Writer's Almanac on Facebook to have the daily programs appear on your Facebook page.

Last week, Keillor had a nice presentation on Robert Frost's life and work. He mentioned Frost's early days of struggling to earn a living and of his trying to make a living farming in New England, on a farm his grandfather had bought for him and his new bride. Keillor states that:

The majority of the poems from those [first] two books had been written at the farm in Derry, and some from his third book too. He wrote in a letter: "The core of all my writing was probably the five free years I had there on the farm. [...] The only thing we had was time and seclusion. I couldn't have figured on it in advance. I hadn't that kind of foresight. But it turned out right as a doctor's prescription."  You can read the entire broadcast, which includes Frost's "A Prayer in Spring"  here.  

As Garrison Keillor says as he closes each program, "Be well, do good work, and keep in touch."

-