Poetry Project Mid-Year Reflection

The Poetry Project is hosted by Regular Rumination and The Written World.

1) What has been the most rewarding aspect of The Poetry Project so far?

Reading poetry again, sticking to a blogging schedule, and reigniting my love for writing poetry
 
2) What is your favorite post from a fellow Poetry Project participant this year?

Lu's How to Love a Poem
Nancy's [Readings in Philippine Literature: Poetry #3] Filipino poets on the "burning" power of love (with Pulitzer Prize in Poetry winners as guests)

3) What is your favorite poem that you have read because of The Poetry Project?

It was impossible to choose just one!  The Poetry Project has introduced me to lots of fantastic poetry and poets - some old, some new.  Surprisingly since I am not a fan of Halloween or "scary" motifs in general, most of my favorite poems came from the October round-up.

A Spiral Notebook by Ted Kooser
Wind by Ted Hughes
Cemetery by Marra PL. Lanot
Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

4) What are some poetry-related goals you’d like to set for the coming year?

1. read a little poetry at least once a week
2. read more new/modern poets
3. work through some of my favorite poets' canons (Pablo Neruda, Anne Sexton)
4. write more poetry - as the new year begins, I am planning on beginning a new feature on my blog called "Scripted Verses" where I post an original poem every Friday. 

5) Do you have any suggestions for The Poetry Project in 2013? What would you like to see happen?

I would like to see monthly themes dedicated to the most unusual poem you've ever read or a poem translated from a different language or your favorite poem from childhood.  As a child, I was partial to "The Purple Cow" by Gelett Burgess, "Sick" by Shel Silverstien, and "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson.

6) Share with us one line of poetry that you think we need to read.

I've already shared one of my favorite lines from a Pablo Neruda poem here when I began this project, but here are some other favorites lines and poems I recommend:

Gibbons Ruark's "To The Swallows of Viterbo"

The flawed hinges of our shoulders shine

Gibbons Ruark's "Basil" (posted with commentary by poet Kathryn Stripling Byer) 

Your quick hand on my face the scent of basil

I also highly recommend Michael McFee's The Smallest Talk - a collection of one line poems.  I've read this book over and over again, and I still find something to love every time.  Here's a teaser (or two): 

Dermatographia

Look how her nails spoke in tongues all over my back

Sharing Chapstick

The closest his lips may come to touching hers  

7) Is there a new poet that you have discovered through The Poetry Project?

I can always count on Snowball @ Come, Sit by the Hearth to post diverse poems and poets.

8) Anything else you would like to share?

In keeping with my first posts as part of this project where I shared my personal poetry, often inspired by the very poets whose poems I posted, I thought I would share my ode to Gibbons Ruark in the mode of "To The Swallows of Viterbo"; also, keep an eye out for more of my original poems.  I plan on posting one every Friday in the New Year. 

To the Swallows                                                                                 

We are all angels fallen down,

Gingerly feeling the points where our

Wings once sprouted, reminders rounded

And hunched in a menacing glower,

Warning others to stay away.

These “flawed hinges of our shoulders”

That one poet once enshrined lay

On our backs like Atlas’s boulders;

A heavy burden we all carry

As a result of our swift tumble

From grace that left us frightened and wary

Of loving another and fumbling

Our way through life knowing something

Is just out of reach or missing.