It Was Very Merry - A Poetry Month Recap

"Recuerdo" may be my forever favorite poem, and other memories from the month

There is a name for the genre of poems that are about greeting the day, welcoming the morning - “aubade” - which is French for dawn. But what about a name for the ritual we've established this April - greeting every day with a poem?

This practice, shared with my kids, has become more memorable than I could have imagined as we set off on this adventure last month. I wrote a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish - write and memorize a poem, teach one to the kids, have a poetry tea party - and I did indeed accomplish most of these things. But the unexpected outcomes have been much sweeter. I have come to see how poetry, according to the poet Maggie Smith, is not just a way of art, but a way of life.

When I told my four-year-old Finn that I was sad about poetry month ending he retorted, I'm sad too. Over the course of the month he has felt the pride of memorizing and reciting multiple poems, has learned a slew of new vocabulary, and I hope, has started to weave poetry into the fibers of his being. The same is true for my older son Gus. Whether or not he seems as engaged in it as his brother, he's receiving it in his own way. He prompted me to read him poems on more than a few occasions, and he certainly listened to a lot of them. He likes to fill in the rhyming words and he has a great memory for it. While I may not see the payout as clearly (yet), I know it's in him, quietly sinking in.

(Side bar: It hit me particularly hard when RFK Jr. spewed his nonsense about autistic kids not writing poetry in the midst of living out our poetry month, when I was witnesses its impact firsthand. But I loved this retort from an autistic poet: “I will challenge RFK Jr. to write a poem as good as me any day of the week.” HA! More to come on this topic at a later date!)

My kids helped me on my own poetry path many times over the month - both as inspiration in writing it and with help memorizing it. Finn asked me to recite my chosen poem, “One Art”, many times. By taking on this poetry challenge I showed my kids that practice may not always make perfect, but it can be a great source of connection, fun and pride.

I read aloud to my husband from Love Poems (for People with Children), which brought us a few laughs and much-needed moments of connection.

I even wrote a few of my own, thanks to the prompts in Maggie Smith's Dear Writer.

On Easter afternoon my family sat around reciting poetry. My dad still remembers Rudyard Kipling's “If” from when he was in grade school. I can picture Finn in his teens and beyond still reciting the other “If” by heart:

If all the land were apple-pie

And all the sea were ink;

And all the trees were bread and cheese,

What would we do for drink?

-Anonymous

In the last week of April The NYT posted their first ever poetry challenge. (Better late than never!) On night one we listened to Edna St. Vincent Millay's “Recuerdo” read over and over again by Ina Garten, Jennifer Egan, R.L. Stein, Emma Straub, Ada Limon, Anne Patchett and more. The kids would point to a headshot and we'd listen again.

For many days afterward Finn and I practiced the poem together. Usually before bedtime, or sometimes over breakfast. He remembered parts of it that I didn’t, and I was in awe.

We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;

And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.

Just yesterday, two weeks into May, and at least a week since our last “Recuerdo” practice session, we nailed it. I don't remember what we were doing- maybe it was in the morning before school - but I casually said, do you think we can remember it? I was curious to know the capabilities of both of our memories. And we did it. When we checked ourselves afterward we'd dropped just a few words.

We hailed “Good morrow, mother” to a shawl-covered head

And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;

“Recuerdo” will always hold a special place in my heart, and hopefully in my head. I can’t imagine it will be easy to forget Millay’s opening lines, repeated throughout the poem. They speak to me as a parent as I also spend my days exhausted yet finding joy:

We were very tired, we were very merry,

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.

Finn and I weren’t the only people to enjoy this fun challenge. A.O. Scott wrote in this week’s Book Review newsletter that many people responded positively, many with a request for more poetry challenges. Yes!

Maggie Smith claims that when you read a poem, or read a book, or hear a song, you are not the same person afterward. You are changed. You look the same and sound the same on the outside, but you aren’t who you were before. “Be careful, I might tell someone when handing them a book or a record, you will be different after this.”

I wholeheartedly believe that to be true. My kids and I are different having listened to Langston Hughes, Jack Prelutsky, William Carlos Williams, Edna St. Vincent Millay and countless others day after day.

One of my faves from Prelutsky’s The New Kid on the Block

How could one not be changed after that stroke of genius by Prelutsky!?

It just so happened that I was gifted multiple poetry books over the course of the month, including Maria Shiver's I Am Maria and Smith’s Dear Writer. Both were unexpected but delightful synchronicities for poetry month. I picked up a copy of The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood, edited by Nancy Reddy, fascinated by her poetry background while reading her first non-fiction work, The Good Mother Myth.

One easy thing we'll continue to do over the course of the year, while we await poetry month again, is build up our home poetry library. As Rebecca Gomez says, every home should have at least one shelf of poetry books because everyone can benefit from reading and rereading poetry.

I am looking forward to the release of Kate Baer's new work and love her Substack posts for more good reccs. I've added additional books of poetry to my library list, including more Maggie Smith. I can’t wait to read her memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful. The Mother of All Words by Kelly D. Belmonte and Poetry is Not a Luxury, both on my list, were just released to rave reviews.

A few of Kate Baer’s Good Things

I will certainly be taking these poetry month memories with me into the months and years to come, and I hope my kids will too. Most importantly, I will aim to infuse poetry into our days - reciting it, talking about it, appreciating it, and living it, as Maggie Smith says. Poetry is not just a way of art, but a way of life.