The Round-Up, Plus Thinking Ahead

"Ah," I smiled. "I'm not really here to keep you from freaking out. I'm here to be with you while you freak out, or grieve, or laugh, or suffer, or sing. It is a ministry of presence. It is showing up with a loving heart."
~Kate Braestrup

Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks for coming. If you have a post to share, please leave a link in the comments.

I thought this would be a great time to share some thoughts about National Poetry Month. It's not until April, but I would love to have any submissions from you by the end of February so I can get my posts in order during March.

What submissions, you ask? There are a few different things I would like to share in April:

1) I love the idea of Poetry T-shirts. I've talked about them before, here and here (and here). If you have ideas for Poetry t-shirts, please send them to me by the end of February. You can even design it yourself and send me the link or image. I am hoping to share some designs on The Opposite of Indifference and possibly even have some made.

2) I am interested in poems written to politicians (past, present, or future). If you write one, please send it to me by the end of February.

3) I would like to see some poems inspired by music. I have a bunch of music posts -- if any inspire you to write a poem, please send it to me by the end of February.

That's it! Now, time for a poem. I didn't know how to get permission to share this poem, so I will just give the link: It’s Time to Find a Place by Indian poet Eunice de Souza.

If you get a chance, tune in tomorrow for a post about poetry and Doctor Who :-)

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The Round-up:

Robyn kicks things off with "overheard at the grocery store" and Delmore Schwartz's "I Am Cherry Alive."

Violet shares her original The Witness of Rooms.

Myra spotlights Red Sings from Treetops by Joyce Sidman.

Renee is featuring children's poet M.M. Socks with his math poem video "Fiesta for Fractions", which she says is for all those math geeks out there looking for a party!

Joy offers an original "Cowgirl Abecedarian."

Mary Lee gives us "It's Time to Say Goodbye," an original poem.

Laura Shovan brings Postcard #17, a triolet about Gladiole (postcard art by Sulamith Wulfing). But she's especially excited about the postcard art project that Linda Baie sent her.

Jama is also excited. She has a guest poet today, Nicole Gulotta of EAT THIS POEM. Jama suggested that Nicole create a recipe inspired by a children's poem, and Nicole selected Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's, "Apple Pockets."

Ruth is in with the Richard Blanco poem from the inauguration and so is Tara.

Laura Purdie Salas has David Elliott's "The Shark" from In the Sea.

Laura also shares 15 Words or Less poems.

Liz Steinglass contributes three winter haiku.

Mother Reader provides another installment in her songs-as-poetry series, but with a personal touch - a video of her daughter singing it: Crazy Dreams

Catherine gives us a Pam Ayres poem.

Linda lets us join her as she contemplates her wedding anniversary with a poem called Traveling.

What do Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Burns, and the New England Patriots have in common? Matt's blog post!

Dori shares an original poem about a moment with her father: Confinement.

Bridget brings us Exciting News :-)

Katya was inspired by the moon to visit Alfred Noyes' The Highwayman.

Sylvia responds to the strange weather with a list of weather-themed poetry.

Sylvia also showcases one of her favorite poems from The Poetry Friday Anthology: The Do Kind by Janet Wong.

Tamera muses on the parallels between home renovation and revision, plus a bit of a poem inspired by the need to renovate.

Elaine offers an original list poem about the sun.

We're invited to play in Amy LV's Dollhouse today.

Bildungsroman has a song for us: LadyLuck by Maria Taylor.

Ralph posted a favorite quote about poetry (from Robert Frost) followed by one of his poems, "running water."

Charles turns to Downton Abbey for help at Snickers and he reads and writes silly animal poems at his Father Goose blog.

Lorie Ann gives us a Yellow Heart haiku.

Jone shares Old Dog by William Stafford.

Diane wrote a poem in honor of Inauguration Day 2013.

Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet shares The Open Door: One Hundred Poems One Hundred Years of Poetry Magazine

Margaret contributes a poem by one of her students.

Janet shows us Lives: Poems about Famous Americans selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Leslie Staub.

Anastacia is in with a 2012 CYBILS nominee: Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems by J. Patrick Lewis

Dina was inspired by Helen Frankenthaler's painting Venus Revealed to write Shell Shocked: Venus Revealed.