Gratitude

Gratitude

Be thankful for the little things
And keep them top of mind
For like the windswept grains of sand
Upon the beach you’ll find
It’s little things that matter most
When dreaming of the sea.
Tomorrow morn leaves pale the boast
Impressive though it be;
That one great thing can disappear
Just slip right through your grasp
But you won’t shed a single tear
If tiny things you clasp
Tight to a grateful, cheerful heart
Remembering to treasure
Those tiny things, each one a part
Of a whole that’s hard to measure.

Today’s Poets

Nikki Grimes

– a prodigious poet who was born in Harlem in 1950. At the age of 13, she gave her first poetry reading, at the Countee Cullen Library, a block away from where she was born. As a teenager, she began publishing her poetry, and was mentored by writer James Baldwin. Read more here.

On Quiet Feet by Nikki Grimes | Poetry Foundation

April is National Poetry Month. This year marks its 27th year. NaPoWriMo – 30 days of writing poems – is poets’ answer to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

This coincides with the A to Z Blogging Challenge, now celebrating its 13th anniversary. Some participants choose a theme; others wing it. Doesn’t matter! The real challenge is to build a practice of writing daily. I think I stuck with it…once. There’s still time to sign up – registration ends April 9. You can see the list of participants – I’m sure they’d love it if you’d visit and comment on their blogs.

This month, my goal is to:

1. Write a poem a day and share it – uncurated – here; and
2. Highlight some poets you may be unfamiliar with.

I encourage you to click the links to read about them and their work. I plan to choose a diverse array of classical and contemporary poets – indigenous poets, Black poets, women poets, LGBTQ poets – that challenge us to see the world differently while also tapping into universal themes and emotions.

Remember, too, that comments and conversation are always welcome here. (Spammers, on the other hand, will be tossed into the moat or mocked, so before you leave an irrelevant comment or drop a link, consider that it’s fair game!)