Ode to Poetry

April is National Poetry Month and although I am not a poet I felt I should at least acknowledge it.

At first I thought, wouldn't it be cool to write an ode to poetry? Very clever and pretentious. But did I mention I'm not a poet?

I have an overwhelming respect for people who are talented enough to make words sing. It's a very special gift and I am humbled by those who possess it.

My favorite forms of poetry are the haiku, because I'm impressed at how a good haiku packs so much complexity into such a simple form (and because I can occasionally manage to write a passable haiku), and the sonnet (which I have adopted as my own personal challenge). I also like prose poetry because as a writer it's an excuse to call a paragraph a poem.

My favorite poet/poem of all time? Ummm. I'm stumped here. I'm not at all a student of poetry so I haven't sampled a very wide selection of poets, but one of my favorite poems is Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came."

I've also discovered some very good contemporary poets in my travels through the blogosphere - good enough that I visit them often and bask in the beauty of their words (while trying not to feel inadequate myself) - Terresa, Psychonaught, and SweetMango among them.

So, back to my original plan to write an ode to poetry. Well, the following haiku was the best I could do. I know, it's lame. But I did warn you - I'm not a poet.

Ode to poetry,
The gift of making words sing
Pretentious haiku

So who's your favorite poet? Favorite poem? Are you a poet?

(on a silly side note, my grandfather used to say: you're a poet and don't know it, your feet are long fellows. hehe.)

Happy Poetry Month!