Welcome and thanks!
We met on four Fridays (via Zoom) to celebrate poetry as the Academic Book Club, sponsored by Community Engagement as part of their Connect with Community initiative at CSUN!
I chose a small number of short poems for each of the first three meetings. For the final meeting, two participants volunteered to select one poem apiece.
For the record, I hoped especially to entice people with a longstanding prejudice against poetry.
As for me, I was (still am) Cheryl Spector, a CSUN faculty member in the English Department since 1986. I started CSUN's Freshman Common Reading Program in 2007.
Our goal was to join together for discussion and fun. I think we succeeded. In any case: here are poems that you can read at your leisure, followed by some suggestions on what to look for when you're spending time with poems.
The poems
General instructions: skim through these "fourth session" poems before we meet. Then go back and reread just the ones you find most interesting. Prepare to join the discussion by asking a question or making a statement about your favorite poem. No time to prepare? No worries. You'll still learn something--and we may learn something from you, too.
Poems (and discussion leaders!) for the fourth session (May 8)
- Spring Pools by Robert Frost...or Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost (still deciding): Cheryl
- I Worried by Mary Oliver: Kurt
- The Guest House by Rumi: Bry
Bonus poems:
- The First Lines of Emails I've Received while Quarantining by Jessica Salfia: Bry
- My Skeleton by Jane Hirshfield: Cheryl
Poems we discussed during the third session (May 1)
We discussed these four poems:
- One need not be a Chamber--to be Haunted by Emily Dickinson. (You can also look at some manuscripts for the poem online.)
- Golden Retrievals by Mark Doty
- Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
- Design by Robert Frost
As predicted, we didn't get to these five other poems but I thought I'd leave them up as they are well worth reading.
- Prayer by George Herbert
- As kingfishers catch fire by Gerard Manley Hopkins
- Or Pied Beauty.
- Or The Windhover.
- Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens
After this session ended, one participant emailed me the chorus of a John Prine song that helpfully illustrates the poetic term "onomatopoeia" (the term did come up during our meeting):
Chorus of “Onomatopoeia”:
Bang! went the pistol Crash! went the window Ouch! went the son of a gun Onomatopoeia I don’t wanna see ya Speaking in a foreign tongue
Poem we discussed during the second session (April 24)
- Aunt Jennifer's Tigers by Adrienne Rich
- Encounter in August by Maxine Kumin
- Sonrisas by Pat Mora
- Good Night by W. S. Merwin
Poems we discussed during the first session (April 17)
- The Span of Life by Robert Frost
- To make a prairie by Emily Dickinson
- Essential oils--are wrung-- by Emily Dickinson
- A Rabbit as King of the Ghosts by Wallace Stevens
What to look for in a poem
Well, of course you want to think about what each word means: why that word instead of some other? But you can also consider the sounds of the words, where the poet stops one line to start the next, whether there are rhymes or even rhythms (that's "meter" for English majors), the punctuation, and how the poem uses imagery (sights, sounds, smells, textures) and patterns (repetitions of anything at all) to make meaning.
Or: just read the poem aloud several times. If it's a really short one, try to memorize it.
Want more? Feeling wonky? Dr. Leilani Hall (English), a poetry professor at CSUN, recommends browsing the Glossary of Poetic Terms (Bob's Byway). Having taken a first look for myself, I totally agree. (Because there's so much more to reading a poem than studying the words!)
More ways to benefit from poetry
What Can Poetry Offer Us in Distressing Times?
Zócalo Public Square offered a livestreaming event on Thursday, May 7, at 6:30 p.m.
Former United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, poet and author Inez Tan, and Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Ríos visit Zócalo to consider how reading and writing poetry can save us when all seems lost.
Fore more information or to RSVP: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/event/what-can-poetry-offer-us-in-distressing-times/
NPR's Life Kit on Poetry
We Need Art Right Now. Here's How To Get Into Poetry (Mar. 31, 2020). Yup: NPR offers 5 tips for how to ready poetry, in your choice of a 20-minute podcast or the webpage, which includes a video of former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera reading his poem Almost Livin' Almost Dyin'.
National Poetry Month and #shelterinpoems
April is National Poetry Month. Let's celebrate!
April 30, 2020, online at 4:30 p.m. PDT: join "a virtual reading of uplifting poems to bring us together" sponsored by the Academy of American Poets.
On March 20, 2020, the American Academy of Poets announced a new initiative called Shelter in Poems:
In this time of uncertainty and great concern, many people are turning to poems to seek words of wisdom, uplifting ideas, and language that prompts reflection and centers us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In response to this need and to help our readers stay connected in the weeks ahead, the Academy of American Poets invites the public to join in a new initiative called Shelter in Poems.
To learn more about Shelter in Poems or to participate in it, read the full announcement.
Artwork by Samantha Aikman. Line of poetry--"Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you"--excerpted from the poem “Remember” by Joy Harjo, from She Had Some Horses (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1983). For more free poetry resources, visit Poets.org/national-poetry-month