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Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day

April 17 is the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day, created by the Academy of American Poets to help us celebrate April as National Poetry Month.

Poem in Your Pocket Day encourages us all to pick our most favorite poems and carry them with us to share with our family and friends. The Academy suggests several clever ways to take our poems along with us, including handwriting some lines on the back of our business cards, adding a poem to our e-mail footers, posting a poem on our blog or social networking page, and texting a poem to our friends.

Additional ways are found in the book “Poetry Aloud Here! Sharing Poetry with Children in the Library,” by Sylvia M. Vardell (described in “April showers, May flowers, and . . . Poetry?” Among other ways, Vardell suggests that we:

• Set up a coffeehouse-style poetry reading in your classroom or library. (Do not forget the refreshments.)
• Contact radio stations about hosting a live, on-air poetry reading at either the school, the library, or the radio station.
• Record a poem on your answering machine at home or school or as a cell phone message.
• Send a poem to your state or local representative or other government official.
• Make National Poetry Month buttons. Inscribe them with haiku, short poems, or favorite lines of poetry. Wear the buttons the whole month of April.
• Plan a poetry reading for a senior center, hospital, or local business.

If you have other ideas on how to celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day, as well as to express how you celebrated the Day, contact the Academy of American Poets.

Poem In Your Pocket Day is made possible, in part, by the National Council of Teachers of English and the American Booksellers Association, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.