I like to think that April was named National Poetry Month because it was inspired by the success of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, and April was next in line, as opposed to, say, a clumsy reference to T. S. Eliot. I like to think that because I would hope that the Academy of American Poets would have more going on than the football fans of Baltimore who named their NFL franchise the Ravens after Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem.
But no matter the reason why April was chosen, April it is, and here at The Rumpus we’re helping celebrate with a new, previously-unpublished poem every day for the entire month. You’ll find them in this column each morning, right after Morning Coffee. We have solicited poems from poets young and not-so-young, in the early stages of their careers and well-established, and from a variety of poetic aesthetics. We’re showcasing a wide range of voices in contemporary poetry, and we’re excited about the work we’ll be providing a space for.
