Poem in a Pocket

A poem in your pocket...

April is National Poetry Month here in the United States, and April 2021 marks the 25th annual celebration of poets and poetry. There are lots of great activities out there & ways to celebrate, but my favorite is Poem In Your Pocket Day. This year Poem In Your Pocket Day is April 29th. For this swap, you send one partner a poem in a pocket.

THE POEM

Sender's choice. It can be a well-loved, age-old favorite. Or it can be something new penned by you! Consider choosing a poem that may inspire. If you need help finding a poem, check out the 2021 suggestions from the Academy of American Poets or the Poetry Foundation or even the PoemHunter website. Or your local library!

Please make sure that just the poem can be stored in the pocket. If you'd like to include a letter (and I'm sure your partner would appreciate it!) just include that separately somehow and allow the poem to shine on its own. If this is more about the papercrafting for you and you don't want to write a long letter, that's fine too - just don't forget to include a short note with the swap name and your name, and maybe why you picked the poem.

THE POCKET

Handmade or store-bought is fine. Please let your creativity shine here! There are a LOT of tutorials for paper pockets on YouTube. And a LOT of printable templates for teachers using this holiday in the classroom. If you need more inspiration, try searching for "Origami Pockets." I suppose the pocket doesn't have to be paper - and it could be fabric or another material if you want to experiment, but please make sure it lays flat and mails in normal, unpadded envelopes. Let's try to keep these smaller than 5x7" so they travel easily in the mail and can then be added to a journal. (3x5" is typically considered "pocket size" anyway.)

LOGISTICS

• 1 partner, assigned on April 9th.
• Deadline to mail is April 19th.
• Sender's choice means you can start working on it now.
• International, means it might not get to ya before April 29th.
• I'll angel if you let me know you didn't receive anything.
• Feel free to use hashtag #pocketpoem if you're sharing online.

"I’m a great believer in poetry out of the classroom, in public places, on subways, trains, on cocktail napkins. I’d rather have my poems on the subway than around the seminar table at an MFA program.” —Billy Collins