National Poetry Month

Last night, I sat at a restaurant that is an English teacher's dream. One long wall includes a wide magnetic strip upon which are hundreds of Magnetic Poetry word bits. On my left, a family laughed between bites of frites as their children messed around with language and structure. On my right, a bilingual couple spoke in French and created short poems in English from the words on the wall.

April is National Poetry Month. We've all been touched by poetry, many of us teach poetry, and certainly, our lives themselves are poetry. To honor the poetry within us and around us, I give you two of my favorite teacher-y poems.

First, a gem from my favorite accessible poet, Billy Collins. If you don't yet know "Introduction to Poetry," I think you will enjoy it.

And then, the classic "Did I Miss Anything?" from Tom Wayman. It's a great riff on that bothersome student-to-teacher question.

What's your favorite poem? I encourage you, in this month of poetry, to find it, re-read it (or recite it), and let it please you once again.