HEADS UP!!! POEM IN YOUR POCKET Day is APRIL 18, 2013

April 18, 2013 is 

POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY! Don't forget to arm yourselves and your family with poems to share! If you need a little help finding poems, visit the POETS.org PIYP page for downloads and ideas for making the day great. And, last year, these great books for kids and adults were published.

Poem in Your Pocket, edited by Elaine Bleakney, in conjunction with the Academy of American Poets. Published by ABRAMS, the purveyor of gorgeous books, this brilliant little tome is 5x7 and the cover opens to reveal a tablet of 200 tear-off pages of thematically arranged poems to share. 

"First there was National Poetry Month, then there was National Poem in Your Pocket Day, now you can carry a poem in your pocket anytime!"
 

Published in conjunction with the Academy of American Poets, Poem in Your Pocket enables you to select a poem you love, tear it out neatly from the book, and then carry it with you all day to read, be inspired by, and share with coworkers, family, and friends. This innovative format features 200 poems from Shakespeare to Sexton, cleverly organized by theme. If you’re feeling wistful, flip to the “Sonic Youth” section. If you want to romance your lover and surprise him or her with a seductive sonnet, turn to the “Love and Rockets” section. Now you can easily spread the love of poetry or treasure it in private with Poem in Your Pocket! Whether you’re a fan of Sylvia Plath or Emily Dickinson, Frank O’Hara or Walt Whitman, Poem in Your Pocket has a poem for everyone."

With More Poems for Your Pocket, Bobbi Katz (you can watch an interview with here over at the great virtual field trip site, MEET ME AT THE CORNER)brings us a collection of poems by esteemed writers such as Langston Hughes, Ogden Nash, John Ciardi, Richard Wilbur Emily Dickinson. There are also poems by Katz herself, including this one, perfect for the day -

A Pocket Poem

With a poem in your pocket
and
a pocket in you pants
you can rock with new rhythms.
You can skip.
You can dance.
And wherever you go,
and whatever you do,
that poem in your pocket is going there, too.
You could misplace your homework.
You could lose your left shoe.
But that poem in your pocket will be part of you.
And nothing can take it.
And nothing can break it.
That poem in your pocket
becomes
part of ...
YOU!

Finally, if you just can't find any poems, click here for a great selection of pocket-sized PDF poems and make your own sheaf to share!

Thanks to reader jennybell for introducing me to this wonderful poem!!

Keep A Poem In Your Pocket
By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Keep a poem in your pocket
And a picture in your head
And you'll never feel lonely
At night when you're in bed.
The little poem will sing to you
The little picture bring to you
A dozen dreams to dance to you
At night when you're in bed.
So - -
Keep a picture in your pocket
And a poem in your head
And you'll never feel lonely
At night when you're in bed.