Pride Poets

Call and get a custom poem!

Little pop-up poetry booths are some of my favorite things on Earth. I love poets just scribbling a quick poem for someone for a donation to a cause (or as a living!). It's such an engaging and intimate way to connect with a stranger. I had no idea that you could call and get the experience over the phone, but you can at Pride Poets.

For Pride Month this year, Pride Poets is donating $15 for each poem from an anonymous donor to the LA LGBT Center. The event will take place June 11 through 13 so be sure to jump on in this weekend! You can also peruse the site for poetry and other inspiration.

Do you have any favorite LGBTQ+ poets or poems? Share them in the chat.

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LGBTQ

Summer Poetry

What are your favorites?

Poetry lovers, I must confess that I'm no lover of summer months. For a variety of reasons, I will even count down to the first day of September as I eagerly await the fall, and summer isn't even officially here yet! Still, there are plenty of things that are beautiful about the summer, and lots of poems to celebrate those aspects of the season.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Shakespeare has plenty of summer poetry to wax on about but there are loads of other examples, from Christina Rossetti, my favorite, to Amy Lowell. You can find many of these online, but I'm sure your local library would have books on the subject as well.

How about you? What are your favorite summer poems? Do you write any yourself? Share them in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Society
Culture

Mooning Over Poetry

What are your favorite moon poems?

The only full moon eclipse of 2021 is upon us and many people who are into astrology are making a big deal about it. It's going to be a Blood Moon, so it will look red in some regions, and it precedes Mercury going into retrograde, so it's considered a significant time. Whether you follow celestial patterns or not, you have to admit the moon looks beautiful in its many phases, and there are many poems written to celebrate it.

There are even moon poems written by some famous poets, like e.e. cummings and Percy Bysshee Shelley. It really shouldn't be so surprising. The moon is connected to our tides, and I've even heard arguments made that it affects people because we're made of mostly water and even some stardust! No matter what, I have to say that's pretty. I don't mind being put into a category with a werewolf.

Do you know any beautiful poems about the moon? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Culture
Society

"Pommes Frites And Mayonnaise"

Have you read Bill Ward's poem?

When I lived in Spain, I fell in love with pommes frites served with mayo and ketchup, which sounds really weird to many people. It's quite good! So when I read the title for Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward's poem, I had to wonder if he'd found culinary love in the same way.

He definitely has an appreciation for the treat, as well as the time we've lost during Covid, as his poem features references about how hard it's been to track time. He also mentions other snacks and gets me hungry in the process! It's a nice poem with lots of foodie imagery.

Have you read any other interesting poems this week? Share them in the chat.

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Entertainment

Inspiring Graduation Poems

Share what you've found!

Graduation season is upon us and it's time to start sharing those words of wisdom with graduates. Somehow I don't think Dr. Seuss's Oh the Places You Will Go really cuts it anymore, and not just because of the complicated past of its author. Today's generation is dealing with more rapid change than ever, and the same general platitudes just aren't enough.

Personally I think Amanda Gorman's The Hill We Climb is a brilliant choice today, or maybe a collection of James Baldwin's quotes. Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is a classic that still holds meaning but again, does it cover today's youth? I would argue that it's pretty timeless, but also that somehow we need more. Maybe we just need to get them universal healthcare, affordable college and a good job outlook? That would be better than any poem, right?

Have any poems really inspired you lately? What words do you wish you'd heard as a grad? Share your favorites in the chat.

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Entertainment
Books

Poems To Combat Toxic Masculinity

Share Yours In The Chat

If you follow James Fell on social media, you already know the author is a gem. He always has the most creative, and sometimes cutting, way to express the changes we need to make in our society. He recently shared an aching poem that resonated with him about toxic masculinity and declared that May 5th be known as International Day of Battling Internalized Toxic Masculinity.

This day is needed but so is simply not teaching toxic masculinity. If only we could create a world like that. I know so many men who've had to move past their own upbringings for this very reason. The poem itself is heartbreaking and depicts how a boy has to battle his own heart.

Do you have any other favorite poems like this one? Share them here in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Education
Arts

The Final Week Of NaNoWriMo!

Share your progress in the chat!

This is it, the final week of NaPoWriMo! How did yours go? Did you accomplish all you set out to write and/or read? We did a very low-key NaPoWriMo this year and I'm afraid we didn't accomplish all of what we wanted to do, but we did decide to do a whole poetry credit during the spring semester of 2022 to coincide with the event next time!

It looks like a lot of poets from India really participated in NaPoWriMo this year and some authors think it was directly due to the pandemic. It's definitely an activity that can be done from home that can also provide comfort and a creative outlet all at once so that makes sense to me.

How did your NaPoWriMo go? Share your thoughts in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Culture
Society

Your Best Poem So Far

Share it in the chat!

How is your National Poetry Writing Month going? Have you written or read (or both!) a lot of poetry this month? I started strong but have fallen off a bit lately due to my state's legislative season taking a lot of my time as an activist. April always seems like such a busy month!

If you have been writing poems, what kinds have you been focused on this year? I often spot trends in the ones I write, especially if I write consistently enough to really have enough to compare. In fact, you can leave a blank space after each poem to go back and analyze why you wrote it that day. You might learn something about yourself.

Have any poems you love that you'd like to share, or that you'd like to have analyzed by other poets? Share them in the chat!

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Society
Education
Arts

Pulitzer Center Offers Poetry Resources

Use these to celebrate NaPoMo!

Whether you're an educator or just celebrating NaPoMo and NaPoWriMo with your family, have you checked out all of the resources available to you through the Pulitzer Center? They have lesson plans, like this one for the collection of poems, If God is a Virus.

The Pulitizer Center also has upcoing workshops for teachers and students to help them get ready for the upcoming Fighting Words Poetry Contest. The deadline for the contest isn't until May but the workshops are scheduled for next week to help get kids ready.

What other resources have you found to celebrate the month with? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Arts

NaNo Check-In

How's your first week of National Poetry Month going?

How's your first week of National Poetry Month going? I've managed to read a few poems, coax one out of The Teenager and write a short one every day so far. Most of them have only been three lines but I did write one that turned into a parody of "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones!

We decided not to make the poetry wall this year just because it's covered with a timeline this year, but we're writing them in our notebooks. My teen has taken to the task with sarcasm which is fine with me. It's still engaging the brain and results in creative results every time no matter the motivation, and sometimes it's even fun.

How are you celebrating? Any poems to share yet? Post them in the chat!

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Arts

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