When I tell people I'm a writer, there's always the follow up response: "What do you write?" My answer's always the same, too, "Mainly poetry." And then there's always a surprised, somewhat awkward pause followed by a look and an "Oh." That's right, sans exclamation point, just a disappointed period. From there, the conversations can take one of several branches. The standard "I don't really know anything about poetry," or the occasional "I love poetry!" or the increasingly

Admittedly, I'm a bit late to post this. It would have been an ideal blog article for the first week of National Poetry Month, but that's the work of someone with better planning skills. Still, what better time to try writing poetry than April? Spring, new beginnings, end of the first quarter of the year, picking out your summer hobbies, etc. Or just a good opportunity to take up an old love. As you may or may not know, that's kind of how I got my start in poetry. After years

I have a problem. I do not have poetry friends. Even when I love and recommend poetry to those in my circles, it's not something I have in common with my nearest and dearest. Heck, they barely even read what I write (though I somewhat consider that a blessing, since we all know it's more tolerable to bare your soul to strangers on the internet, right?). All the same, I do actually have suggestions for poetry and novel-in-verse reads, seeing as it's National Poetry Month. Now,