Earlier in the month, I mentioned that I would be planning a celebration of National Poetry Month throughout my community. As the District Literacy Specialist in my school system, I am able to tap into Literacy grant funds through my state to be able to bring interactive Literacy events to our county. Denise Krebs asked, “Will you blog it?” I assured her that I would. And I thank her for the inspiration for this post!
We kick off on April 1 with our big celebration. I sought a poet to write a poem on the theme of Bloom! Clayton Moon was my choice, because he has a true gift of writing about place. The rural countryside of Pike County, Georgia is his jam. He calls himself a dirt road mystic.
And he is. Not only did he write our featured poem, The Kiss of a Flutter’s Eye, he also added to the collection and published a book of poems about our county and its rural setting.
We sectioned his poem onto twelve pages, and I asked a recent Pike County graduate who was on Spring Break from ABAC College to illustrate the poem. She drew amazing blooms to match the words in the poem. I purchased 12 poster stands and asked 12 businesses on our courthouse square if they would allow us to place a stand with a stanza outside their door. They agreed, and merchants will add flowers at the base of the stands (Bloom!). On Friday (today as you read this), we will take these to the square and put them out for folks to come and take a progressive poetry walk, beginning at our Chamber of Commerce on the west side of the square and ending at Prosperity Real Estate on the south side of the square.
On each stanza, there is a QR Code to give L4GA credit for funding the project and to let readers know which numbered stanza it is, in case they begin reading in the middle (they’ll know to go back to the Chamber to start with Stanza 1).
We are also having pop-up poetry writing opportunities in several businesses, along with writing workshops. I’ll lead those in our libraries, but I prepared magnetic boards and baskets with instructional videos to help folks understand what to do in each station if they want to write poems before or after the workshops. They can scan the QR Code to watch a short How To video. I also created a Community Padlet for each poet to upload their poetry if they’d like.
I’m also featuring poets reading their poetry in random QR Codes scattered around the square. I’ve hidden them in Easter Eggs, framed them and placed them on shelves in businesses, and even put them on bookmarks and doorknob hanger signs. If you’re interested in sharing a YouTube video of yourself reading a poem that you have written, please let me know in the comments and I’ll share where to send the YouTube link so that you can come virtually to Pike County and read your poetry! When someone scans your QR Code, there you’ll be – reading to us right here. Click here to hear me read Paint Chips, or click here to hear Clayton Moon read The Kiss of a Flutter’s Eye.
We’re looking forward to an amazing celebration of National Poetry Month, and if you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to check out the progressive poetry walk and holler out for me to meet you at the 1828 Coffee Company on the Zebulon square, where we can sip a lavender latte – or my other favorite, a medicine ball tea. We’ll be having an Open Mic Night with Ethan Jacobs and other local poets on April 19th, and Clayton Moon will be signing his book on the sidewalk outside the bookstore earlier that week.
Come join us! And if you can’t make it to Georgia, come join us at #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com, starting April 1. We’ll be writing poetry every day. Glenda Funk will kick off the party on April 1, and I’ll take the reins on April 2 before passing them on to another host on the 3rd. Several of us in the Slice of Life group will be hosting on a day in April – Denise Krebs, Margaret Simon, Barb Edler, and others. Don’t forget Leigh Anne Eck’s new blog group, too, that begins April 1 and focuses on topics of nature.
Thanks for a great month of writing, friends! Now we can all celebrate by wearing our Slice of Life t-shirts. I got the baseball shirt with the black sleeves, because I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my first post this month, being a lost slicer wandering the streets of Anaheim looking for a meet-up. I’ll be wearing my t-shirt at NCTE this year, so if I look lost, please come help me find my way!
Common Threads 
I love all of this and will see you over at Ethical ELA for April!
Kevin
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Oh, now, you have me wanting to buy a t-shirt, too. Kim, your post has inspired so many ideas for me today. I absolutely love the concept of a poetry progressive walk! Fantastic! Thank you for sharing the links to poetry, too. I’m deeply grateful for your thoughtful posts this past month. See you at Ethical ELA! Thanks!
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Barb, I can’t wait for April! It’s only an hour and a half away from where I sit now……see you in EthicalELA, and thanks for a great month of writing and sharing.
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Thank you!
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Kim,
All these celebrations of poetry are brilliant. I love the idea of a progressive poem and wish I could wonder the town square to read it. We don’t have town squares in the west. Chubbuck doesn’t even have a Main street. Now that I know the theme, I’ll scour my files for an appropriate poem to read. That’s for being a steadfast, amazing friend and all-around fantastic human. Take lots of photos of poetry events and share! 🤗
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Thanks so much, Glenda! I will certainly be taking plenty of pictures – and will share more as the month progresses. Thanks for all you do to invest in me as a writer and as a person – – I appreciate all the passion and energy we share for poetry!
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Your work to bring poetry to your community is extraordinary, Kim! Bravo! It is so interactive and accessible, so compelling – how will anyone resist? The QR codes, the progressive walk, the make-a-poem invitation at the library, all this pop up writing – absolutely fantastic. I am in awe. Thank you for all your great sharing this month and all your wonderful comments on my posts, too; it’s been a fabulous month. Until tomorrow, at Ethical ELA!!
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Thanks, Maureen! I love reading your fun posts about your times with your grandchildren and their love of creativity and nature. I’m still thinking about that dollhouse and all the details, and the children’s artwork that you shared this month. Your grandchildren are blessed to have you in their lives!
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Kim, this post is so exciting on a number of levels – seeing a love of poetry spread throughout your district like riotous spring blooms, that it is an interactive, collective effort, that there’s a rural focus, and just so much creative opportunity. The end of a thing is but the beginning of another…thank you for always being such an incredible inspiration.
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Wow, thanks! This poetry month celebration has been a dream come true, to plan an event and see it come to life. I am wondering about our 2-voice poem and whether we could use technology for the second voice via video. I can’t wait to work together to see all the possibilities we can imagine for our November teamwork. I’m really excited about it. Thank you for always encouraging me.
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I am so excited about our teamwork, too, Kim! And I remain in awe of your poetry month celebration. I would like to see more such things happen in my neck of the woods…
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Wow! This Poetry Month celebration looks extraordinary. Kudos to you for organizing this and spreading a love of poetry in your community. It’s so nice to see something positive amidst so many disturbing news stories. Good Luck!
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Thank you, Rita! This is the most fun part of my work. It makes up for all the parts of the job that are less desirable! I appreciate your reading.
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You are so creative and have created so much fun for your community to have with poetry! I hope others reading this will steal and share some of your ideas. So glad you got it down here, in words and photos. and I love the image of wearing your slicer t-shirt so people can find you! Congrats on March and Happy Poetry Month!
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Thank you, Fran! I appreciate your reading and commenting with encouraging words today!
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Kim, it was fun to read what you have done for poetry propagation in Pike County. Wow! I am inspired by all that you did. I have definitely made some goals for this next year to do some local poetry with children and/or adults. You will be my inspiration.
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