Celebrating Poetry #3: Memorize It

While it may seem like you are back in school, another great way to celebrate poetry this month is to memorize your favorite poem. In middle school, I was forced to recite “Fog” by Carl Sandberg (I couldn't remember a single line of it under pressure) and “Stopping by the Wood on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. The only consolation I had then was that I knew my brother had been forced to do the same when he was in that class. Though of course, when it came down to having the same teachers, they always ended up preferring him. I digress.

The art of memorizing a poem really doesn't work unless you already like the piece. While after seventh grade I swore I would never memorize a poem again, there are now a couple of Emily Dickinson selections that I know by heart, simply because I love them, and not because some wicked old English teacher told me to.

What will you be memorizing this month?

Poem of the Day:  Baby (a diamante poem) - originally published in Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans, 1995 edition