National Poetry Month

Inspired by Black History month, The Academy of American Poets worked with a variety of interested parties including teachers, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and of course poets to figure out the many ways poetry could be celebrated. They concluded April was a great month for the celebration, and on April 1, 1996, President Bill Clinton proclaimed April to be National Poetry Month.

Following the Academy’s lead, Writers’ Morning Out has posted a poem-a-day during April since WMO’s inception in 2010.

“Mother and Son” by Penelope Cottrell

Skin to skin, heart to heart.
Big Heart slows,
Little Heart thunders, frantic.

Voices, crying, laughter – a cacophony around Little Heart,
fresh in a brand-new world.

Little Heart knows Big Heart, his old world’s rhythm,
the only familiar sound among the others.

Tiny ear against chest,
cloudy eyes struggle to adjust.
Breath, a new sensation.

The rise and fall of chest, his tiny breaths outpace hers.
She holds him, he familiar to her,
yet they met just moments ago.

How lovely to meet you, little one,
at last.

A new sound – his sound – pierces the air.
Staccato wail.
Her hand rubs his back,
her voice soothes.

She clings to him, her baby.
Skin to skin, heart to heart.

Savor this moment, she tells herself.