“When our Zoom hang ends / I’ll reinvite you my friend / The link in the same.”
This haiku by Jordan Perry is one of the countless poems that explores our new reality of social-distancing and life online. Poetry is often highly personal but also captures our collective experiences. It can help us process adversity privately while connecting us to others, even across vast distances.
In the midst of strange times and the middle of April 一 National Poetry Month 一 people are turning to poems for comfort and entertainment. Here are a handful of ways to celebrate the month digitally without ever leaving the house.
Watch or take part in an open mic
Both newbies and expert poets have long used open mics to share their words and create community. Many of these events are continuing online. The Nuyorican Poets Cafe hosts a weekly Monday Night Online Open Mic at 8 p.m. ET. Check out their website for the Zoom event link or to sign up to perform a poem. Monday nights are exclusive to poetry, but the cafe also hosts open mics on Thursday at 9 p.m. E.T. that welcome all art forms.
Wednesday Night Poetry, an organization that has been bringing poets together since 1989, is now hosting virtual open mics through their Facebook page every Wednesday 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. To participate, send a video poem or song (three minutes or under) to [email protected].
Attend a virtual poetry reading
Writers continue to share their latest projects via the internet. As book events started being cancelled in January, Green Mountains Review and The Vermont School partnered to create their Social Distance Reading Series, providing a platform for writers to launch new collections of poetry. You can find new video readings on their website every Wednesday and Sunday. If you’re interested in stand-up, Button Poetry regularly posts performance poetry on their website and YouTube Channel.
Read poetry
Whether you want to escape into some classics or explore contemporary poems related to the current health crisis, there are endless options for poetry to read this April.
This list of “10 poems to keep your spirits up during self-isolation” includes Kitty O’Meara’s untitled now-viral poem about social distancing. “And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested…” it begins.
The Academy of American Poetry continues to deliver poetry digitally. Their Poem-a-Day program sends daily poetry to your inbox and has included pieces like “Quarantine” by Franny Choi. The academy also encourages readers to share a poem from the Poets.org collection “that helps to find courage, solace, and actionable energy” for their Shelter in Poems initiative. Use the hashtag #ShelterInPoems to find and share words that are helping people through these unprecedented times.
Whether you want to keep your words to yourself or share them with the world, writing poetry can be therapeutic and a good way to use any free time during self-isolation.
If you need some inspiration, the poet laureate Heather Lang-Casser is posting daily prompts on her Twitter account. Bowery Poetry uses their Instagram account to offer free writing workshops and seminars throughout the week.
For something short and structured, contribute to #Quarantine Haikus, a series of crowdsourced haikus initiated by the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative to help people through feelings of disconnection from friends and family. To participate, write an uplifting haiku, film yourself reading it (for 30 seconds or less) and email the video and text to [email protected].
People have long turned to poetry for comfort and understanding during difficult times. Now is no exception. Throughout April and beyond, don’t forget to seek solace in the poetry taking form all around us.
