Why I read a poem a day
Reading at least one poem a day has been like an intellectual vitamin, giving me a small dose of literature even on busy days when I can鈥檛 get to the novels and nonfiction on my nightstand.
The Academy of American Poets delivers poems to thousands of e-mail subscribers each morning. This book is a collection of those poems.
Last April, after I published an essay about poetry as part of National Poetry Month, an editor told me he鈥檇 often thought that the world would be a better place if we had a poem delivered to our doorstep each morning instead of a newspaper.
As a newspaperman, I鈥檓 not ready to discourage readership of each day鈥檚 edition, but maybe there鈥檚 something to be said for reading a newspaper and a poem each morning.
All of which has led to a small experiment. In an effort to keep a little poetry in my life long after National Poetry Month had passed, I resolved to read at least one poem a day after scanning the newspaper over breakfast. Thanks to three free online poetry-in-your-inbox services, it鈥檚 been an easy resolution to keep.
Many public radio listeners are familiar with 鈥淭he Writer鈥檚 Almanac,鈥� a five-minute segment hosted by Garrison Keillor that airs on lots of stations around the country. Each day鈥檚 edition includes a few tidbits about literary anniversaries, along with a short poem that Keillor recites. Fans can also have the text of each episode emailed to them every day, along with a link to the broadcast version. Check it out at .
The Academy of American Poets has its own poem-day feature, appropriately called "Poem-a-Day."聽Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, highlights new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. On weekdays, poems are accompanied by exclusive commentary by the poets. "Poem-a-Day" is also offered to newspapers across the country, but subscribers can sign up for the free email version at .
Ted Kooser, former poet laureate of the United States, offers a similar service through his 鈥淎merican Life in Poetry鈥� series, though it鈥檚 a weekly, rather than a daily, feature. Kooser briefly introduces each week鈥檚 poem, offering a little bit of information about the selection, the writer, and books where readers can turn if they want more work from the featured poet. Kooser offers the series for free to any newspaper that wants it, but if your local paper doesn鈥檛 run it, you can also sign up for email delivery at . The service is sponsored by The Poetry Foundation, Library of Congress and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
Since subscribing to both poetry services last April, I鈥檝e enjoyed getting a daily dose of verse each morning, something I probably wouldn鈥檛 have indulged if I relied on my own initiative to fetch some poems from the shelf. For various reasons, poetry isn鈥檛 something that many folks regularly make time for, even if they count themselves as avid readers.
Reading at least one poem a day has also been like an intellectual vitamin, giving me a small dose of literature even on busy days when I can鈥檛 get to the novels and nonfiction on my nightstand.
Another windfall has been connecting with a lot of talented poets I wouldn鈥檛 otherwise know about. Poetry being what it is, even the best talents in the genre can labor in relative obscurity. A recent edition of 鈥淲riter鈥檚 Almanac,鈥� for example, featured 鈥淭he Ice Man,鈥� in which poet Jeanne Lohmann reflects, among other things, on the simple childhood pleasure of savoring chipped ice in summer, as she and her companions 鈥渓ifted the freezing melt/ to our hot and eager tongues.鈥� .
Maybe the biggest benefit of reading a poem every morning has been the chance to see the familiar in new ways. Not long ago, Kooser鈥檚 column included 鈥淟essons,鈥� in which poet Vanessa Stauffer considers the magical possibilities of paper. An excerpt:
To crease a sheet of paper is to change
its memory, says the origami
master: what was a field of snow
folded into flake. A crane, erect,
structured from surface. A tree
emerges from a leaf 鈥� each form undone....
You can read the whole poem .
Last April, I wondered if I could remind myself to read a poem each morning. Now, deep in summer, I wonder if I could ever do without it.
Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana and an essayist for Phi Kappa Phi Forum, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥澛� 听听听听听听听听听