Poet T.S. Eliot had no idea what was in store when he wrote nearly a century ago that “April is the cruelest month.” He was just talking about the slow emergence of spring, not a worldwide pandemic.
Poetry can still be an escape, a comfort and a source of connection and insight during difficult times. That’s why a couple of local agencies are promoting friendly community poetry-writing challenges this month that aim to celebrate local life and share the work. April is National Poetry Month, thanks to Eliot’s famous line, and April 17 is International Haiku Poetry Day.
Friends of the Columbia Gorge has announced its Spring Gorge Haiku Challenge. The contest aims to keep people appreciating the beauty of that amazing landscape even if they can’t go there with the recent public-lands closures to prevent crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Gorge has always brought people together and even though trails might be closed, we wanted to bring the wonder of the Gorge to everyone through the beauty of words,” said Kevin Gorman, the conservation group’s executive director.
Haiku is a brief, compressed poetry format, and that’s good since the deadline for the Spring Gorge Haiku Challenge is coming right up: 5 p.m. Wednesday.
All you have to do to participate is post your haiku before the deadline on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the tag @gorgefriends and the hashtag #HaikuPoetryDay. Or email it to friends@gorgefriends.org. Friends of the Gorge staff will select a number of haikus to share April 16 and 17 on the nonprofit’s website and social media channels.
April 17 is the date for International Haiku Poetry Day because that’s how many syllables you’re allowed in a traditional haiku poem: precisely 17, divided into three lines of five, seven and five syllables. If you need help or inspiration, check out a short video on the gorgefriends.org/ website contributed by Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford, who discusses what haiku is and what it has in common with the Columbia River Gorge.
Poetry Moves
Closer to home, nonprofit arts booster Artstra has opened the submission period for the 10th season of Poetry Moves, which displays K-12 student poetry in C-Tran buses.
Entries must be from K-12 students currently enrolled in a public, private or home school in Clark County. Each student may submit two original entries of not more than seven lines each. Ten poems will be selected and displayed beginning in July.
The deadline to submit is May 31. Learn more about Poetry Moves at artstra.org/submit-poems.
