Dear Poet Project
by Nicole Billot, Junior, iPreparatory Academy
by Nicole Billot, Junior, iPreparatory Academy
The Dear Poet Project is an activity sponsored by the Academy of American Poets (AAP). It originated in 2012 and it aimed to encourage students to read and write poems during National Poetry Month. The Project encourages those from grades 5-12 to write a letter to a poet in response to their poem.
In the recent past, iPrep students have been chosen by the AAP, where the poet has read their letter and replied! ! In 2018, Natalie Balladares’ letter was published on the Dear Poet website about her letter to Forrest Gander. In 2020, both Camila Lopez and Zoe Felfle were published! Camila wrote to Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, and Zoey Felfle wrote to Brenda Hillman.
This year our Creative Writing Honors class is celebrating Poetry Month by participating, writing letters and sending them to the AAP by May 1, 2022.
In the recent past, iPrep students have been chosen by the AAP, where the poet has read their letter and replied! ! In 2018, Natalie Balladares’ letter was published on the Dear Poet website about her letter to Forrest Gander. In 2020, both Camila Lopez and Zoe Felfle were published! Camila wrote to Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, and Zoey Felfle wrote to Brenda Hillman.
This year our Creative Writing Honors class is celebrating Poetry Month by participating, writing letters and sending them to the AAP by May 1, 2022.
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The Procedure in Creative Writing Class:
In Creative Writing class, on five separate days, we chose poets (and their poems) from the AAP site in order to read and learn about the poet and the poem. We would watch a videos of the poets reciting their poems and read a text version. Then we answered a few questions relating to the poem and the poets. The questions ranged from: “What interests you about the poem?” and “What connects you to the poem and author?” After our fifth day, we drafted a letter to the poet who we liked the most. |
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My Pick:
My favorite poem is “If you Knew” by Ellen Bass: What if you knew you’d be the last to touch someone? If you were taking tickets, for example, at the theater, tearing them, giving back the ragged stubs, you might take care to touch that palm, brush your fingertips along the life line’s crease. When a man pulls his wheeled suitcase too slowly through the airport, when the car in front of me doesn’t signal, when the clerk at the pharmacy won’t say Thank you, I don’t remember they’re going to die. |
A friend told me she’d been with her aunt. They’d just had lunch and the waiter, a young gay man with plum black eyes, joked as he served the coffee, kissed her aunt’s powdered cheek when they left. Then they walked half a block and her aunt dropped dead on the sidewalk. How close does the dragon’s spume have to come? How wide does the crack in heaven have to split? What would people look like if we could see them as they are, soaked in honey, stung and swollen, reckless, pinned against time? |
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In my analysis, I believe it’s a poem about the unexpected nature of death and how everyone seems to go by disregarding this plain fact. It begs the question of what it takes for people to be more aware. I adore this poem because of the subject and the idea that humans should be more conscious of how sudden and unexpected you or your loved ones can die. This poem can be used as a way to enjoy every moment, despite how insignificant some moments can be. It encourages mindfulness and being aware and mostly content during dull situations.
I’d highly suggest participating in this project next year as it’s a great way to reflect on subjects, thoughts, and feelings that may be meaningful to you. Reflection is a great and clean way to think through things that you only think about on a whim, and it allows you to flesh out these thoughts. The idea of the Dear Poet Project is that you write a letter to a poet, which gives you an opportunity to ask them questions and broaden your ideas. This activity is definitely worth participating if you have the time (or if you take Creative Writing Class!). |
