Promoting Poetry

Poetry is a powerful force. It has come into my life unexpectedly and taken over in ways I’d never imagined. One of those ways is this intense desire I now have to share my love of poetry and the unique way it allows writers to express themselves in a new way. It’s like finding a new product that makes your life so much easier that you have to tell everyone you run into about it. Except, in this case instead of making my life easier, it’s added a new dimension and made it richer, fuller.

I’m not the only one who feels this way about poetry. Luckily, I had the opportunity to participate in a poetry reading with three other WyoPoets‘ board members to celebrate National Poetry Day on October 15th. This is different from the National Poetry Day celebrated in the UK, which fell on October 3rd.

WyoPoets Chere Hagopian, Susan Mark, Marie Marchand, and Mandie Hines

Marie Marchand organized the event for us at the library, where we each read our work followed by a poetry activity for the audience.

I loved hearing the poems of the other poets, and since Marie did all the hard work in organizing the event, it was the most relaxed I’d been at a poetry reading (except for the part where I read). And then we did a blackout poetry exercise where you take a page from a book and create a poem from the words on the page and blackout the words not used.

One of the best parts, if not the best part, of events like these, is that it inspires others. People get excited about poetry, about what it could be, and about sharing their own creations. We had three kids in the audience, two of whom participated in the blackout poetry. And after the activity, everyone who wanted to, came up and shared the poems they’d just created, including both of the kids. Here’s a picture of one of those creations.

In case you can’t read the poem the words are:

Her thoughts soared to life in
her poems. Suddenly
a sort of crazy
flowers inhale the spring!
It’s lovely, wonderful earth has returned again.

There were so many great poems created, almost everyone in the audience participated and nearly everyone shared their poems. The one above was created by my son.

I can’t say enough about the opportunity of opening up possibilities to future writers and poets, regardless of age. There is something magical when you pass on something you love to someone else and you see the spark in their eyes when they’ve created something they didn’t know was possible for them.

Here’s a little bit more about the three other WyoPoets’ members who read. Their work is beautiful, vulnerable, insightful, and at times humorous.

Marie Marchand:  In addition to being a poet and board member of WyoPoets, Marie is the Owner of MishieCreat!ve Photography. Her poetry has won three awards, including first place in the 2019 Wyoming Writers Contest. She is the author of a collection of poems entitled ‘Pink Sunset Luminaries.’ She gives free poetry readings and workshops.

Chere Hagopian:  Chere was published in the WyoPoets 2018 Chapbook and in the High Plains Register. She is a small business owner of BatteryShip Inc. and a board member of WyoPoets and Wyoming House of Prayer. She has been writing poetry since fourth grade and is inspired by the desire to capture or process strong emotions.

Susan Mark:  Susan is Outreach Librarian at the Wyoming State Library. She is Past President of WyoPoets and a member and past president of Wyoming Writers, Inc., where she was a recipient of their award for service to the organization. She is a former journalist and newspaper owner, and a member of the Wyoming Library Association. She is a graduate of the Wyoming Library Leadership Institute.