Poetry Friday: Battered and Beautiful
Poetry Friday is here this week, my friends. Welcome!
Scroll down to the bottom of this post and Mr. Linky will help you join the round-up of poetry links.
It is Inauguration Week.
As poets, we paid special attention to 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, our country's first Youth Poet Laureate and youngest person ever to write and recite an inaugural poem.According to Business Insider, Gorman's poem, " The Hill We Climb," referenced several American poets and leaders, from George Washington and Frederick Douglass to Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. (Read the article here.)I've been thinking about her phrase, "battered and beautiful," from this section of the poem..."We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful..."(from "The Hill We Climb" by Amanda Gorman).Full text of poem from CNN.To me, "battered and beautiful" speaks not only to our nation, but also to what it means to be alive, to live in a physical body. It reminds me of the pain of childbirth, of illness, of broken bones, and teenage break-outs. It reminds me of the beauty of taking a full breath, of experiencing the world through our five senses, of the joy we feel when we hug someone we love.Next month marks the 9th annual February Poetry Project. It's hard to believe that I started this tradition -- generating a daily poem on a set theme -- back in 2013! Each year, 30-40 poets join me in a private Facebook group where we write on a common prompt each day. The group is a safe space to share our stumbling, glorious, silly, insightful, heart-centered first drafts with each other.Did you guess this year's theme?It's BODIES.There are a few spaces left in the group. Let me know in the comments if you would like to join. If you're not on Facebook, or if you're feeling shy, I'm trying something new this year. I hope to share most of the daily poetry prompts (written by members of the group) right here on my blog!If you need a little bit more information about the project, here is an overview from 2018.Before we get to the links: The two winners of the Bay to Ocean anthology are Michelle Kogan and Mary Lee Hahn. Congratulations to you both! I'll send you an email soon about mailing out your book.Do you need some additional Amanda Gorman resources to share with students?"5 More Amanda Gorman Poems to Share with Your Kids" (Today Show)Poet Jane Hirschfield on Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem.I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts.