National poetry month

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? National poetry month was introduced by the Academy of American Poets to increase awareness and appreciation for Poetry in the US in 1996, and even though I read poetry quite often, in April I tend to really dive into my poetry collection and celebrate some of my favorites. 

I've had a deep connection to poetry ever since I was a young girl. I would get lost in the dark poems of Edgar Allen Poe, the pain in the brave words of Maya Angelou, or the whimsical worlds created by Shel Silverstein. I've always been intrigued by words and the different ways people used language to express emotions. I understood very early on that sometimes it's so much easier to let the pen speak for us. Poetry was such a beautiful way to honor our feelings and experiences. 

When I first started writing poetry, I felt like everything had to rhyme, often writing in iambic pentameter or short stanzas and feeling like poetry had to look or sound a certain way in order for it to be considered a "Poem." What I learned along the way, is that it doesn't matter if it rhymes or how long the poem is, what matters is that it sounds like YOU. Your voice, your thoughts, told how only you can tell it. Emotions can be described in many words, or just a few, but if what you're writing resonates with the reader, they can feel the power of those words just the same, wether it's a 14 line Sonnet or a 3 line Haiku. I always found shelter in poems, my poems were a way for me to communicate things I wouldn’t otherwise say out loud. I didn’t need much to keep myself entertained. As long as I had a pen a paper, I never felt like I was alone. I kept so much inside. Things weren’t always easy for me to say, but it was always easy for me to write it down and close the notebook and forget about it. I felt it, wrote about it, and locked it away in a drawer or in a box. I had tons of notebooks full of poems, but my mom would find them and throw them away. It hurt that she didn’t see the value in my poems, or in my feelings because that’s what they were. I wish she would have appreciated my personal poems outside of all of the recognition I got for the writing I did at school.

As I got older, I began writing in free verse, not using any consistent meter patterns or rhymes. Just telling my stories, and writing down my feelings, in my own way. I don't really have one style that defines the way I write poems. I can be a little Sylvia Plath sometimes writing in her signature confessionalist style or a little nostalgic like Pablo Neruda, or as philosophical as Tupac Shakur. Yes, I consider Tupac a poet. Besides his book of poetry "The Rose that grew from the concrete" collection of poems published in 1999, I've always considered his lyrics poetical, take the music away from any of his songs, put them on paper, and boom. Fucking Poetry.  

In the early 2000's, I was introduced to a style of poetry through Def Poetry Jam called "Spoken Word," and I was completely blown away. It's a performance art that depends more on phonasthetics (the aesthetics of sound) rather than the visual aesthetics on a page. There was one poet in particular who I fell in love with who recited the poems "Lola/WTC." Her name was Caridad de la Luz aka "LA BRUJA." Her performance was so powerful, it was almost musical. I've been following her career ever since, and it is because of her, that I love this free form of performance poetry so much. You guys should all YouTube that performance right now, and experience her Magic! Her book, "The Poetician" is one I still cozy up with from time and time, and both LOLA and WTC can be found in this book. 

In the mid 2000’s, I started carrying blank books around with me, and having people write in them. I figured if I was carrying so much around, and writing it down made me feel better, what could that do for others? It was astonishing the things my friends would write and share. Things I didn’t know they were going through and what amazing writers/poets some of them were. I was surrounded by poets, and I didn’t even know it! Despite all of the smiles, the laughs, the blunts, and the 40’s we shared, there was always something in the back of their minds that was unleashed the minute I put that pen and paper in front of them. I felt honored that they trusted me enough to write those things down in my book, and that I was able to get a glimpse of what was really going on inside of them. I literally held their hearts in my hands. Sometimes, I go back and read through the pages of those books just to see how much I’ve grown in my writing. I wonder if writing in my book ever made them feel the relief that I got from leaving it all on the page, and if they ever bothered nurturing their inner poet outside of my books. 

My collection of Poetry is pretty diverse, and grows each time I visit the book store. I always make my way towards the poetry section and somehow a new book of poems always ends up in my cart. I have a strong affinity towards the old school poets like Charles Baudelaire, Emily Dickinson, and Rumi but I've also grown fond of the more modern day poets like Rupi Kaur, Najwa Zebian and Nikita Gil. There are even some poets I discovered on Social Media who I absolutely love, like Atticus and R.H. Sin, whose poignant poetry bits, and quotes about love and relationships have me scrolling through their Instagram posts, saving and sharing every quote that resonates . I love reading non-fiction books, and books on true crime, but Poetry will always take top spot in my bookcase, and in my heart. We are steadily approaching mid-April and I've been revisiting some of my all time faves, like Jorge Luis Borges "Poems of the Night," Rumi's "Little Book of Life," and Jim Morrison's, "The American Night." I keep different Poetry books stacked up by my bed and read them before I go to sleep, like special little lullaby’s. I even wrote a few new poems myself this month, which I haven’t done in quite some time. It's a muscle I don't flex as often as I used to, but one I must continue to work at keeping strong. 

Below is a peek at my own personal poetry collection. I hope that it inspires you to dedicate some time to your favorite poets, discover new ones, or even honor your inner poet. If the world of poetry is still one you have yet to explore, any one of these books would be a good place to start. National Poetry Month takes place in April, but this rhythmic form of literature should be celebrated every month of the year!

With Style & Pizzaz,

YAZ