In honor of National Poetry Month this April, WKMS presents its 15th annual Poetry Minutes. Author and creative writing instructor at Murray State University, Constance Alexander, visits the Sounds Good studio to discuss this year's Poetry Minutes -- and helps Tracy Ross write a short poem himself in an on-air, pop-up poetry workshop.
See more about submitting your poem here.
WKMS will celebrate National Poetry Month this April by broadcasting original short poems every day for the 15th annual Poetry Minutes. Submissions are open to writers at least thirteen years old and of all skill levels. For this year's Poetry Minutes, the theme is gratitude. All short poems, composed of 60 words or less, should center around imagery and personal interpretations of gratitude. Aside from length and theme, all other aspects of the poem: meter, setting, etc., are decided by the author. Alexander encourages timid writers or those new to poetry to not be intimidated by the challenge. "The thing about poetry that's so wonderful," Alexander explains, "is that poetry lets you break the rules. It lets you make your own rules."
Although it may seem difficult to write a coherent poem about gratitude in less than 60 words, Alexander references a Puerto Rican poet, William Carlos Williams, as inspiration. Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow" is a 16-word poem describing "so much depending on" a red wheelbarrow "glazed with rain" beside "white chickens." Williams' idea of what depended on the red wheelbarrow might have been obvious to him, but the vague notion paired with vivid imagery allows readers to interpret the poem in a way specific to their own experience. Alexander explains that everyone has their own version of a red wheelbarrow on which much depends. "We all have some scene in mind that for us, personally, we know why it's important or what depends on it," Alexander says. "But everyone else can bring their own story to the poem as well."
Rhyming, while normally associated with poetry, is not a requirement for Poetry Minutes submissions. "There are people who have the gift of rhyme," Alexander explains. "Writing in rhyme can be really interesting because it forces you to find better words for what you're saying. So writing in rhyme is a good thing. It's just that people often lose their meaning when they work so hard to get a great rhyme going; they lose the intent of what they're writing." Allowing the verses to flow freely around a central theme of gratitude is "the challenge and the opportunity that we're presenting with this year's poetry minutes," says Alexander, "to let yourself experiment a little."
To further emphasize the ease with which people can experiment and try new things, Tracy Ross and Alexander had an on-air, pop-up poetry workshop. Using one specific piece of imagery, like Williams used the red wheelbarrow in his poem, Ross and Alexander created a succint, 16-word poem with a universal relatability:
Fresh cut grass.
A summer day.
Nowhere to be, no restrictions.
Freedom.
More information on the 2019 WKMS Poetry Minutes, including tips for writing poetry and examples of other short poems, can be found here.
