i absolutely love poetry of all forms  and April is National Poetry Month

words on the page

captivating your imagination without

giving away too much…

you can lose yourself

traveling with the writer

flowing creatively

line by line

drawn

into their world

if only for a brief moment

sometimes it lingers

sometimes not

but always a sweet spot… (-sage, 11)

i first became exposed to poetry because of an assignment in a high school english class. i chose the work of gwedolyn brooks, the american pulitzer prize winning poet. Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks  was born in 1917 in Topeka, Kansas. Her mother was a former school teacher and her father was the son of a runaway slave.   Ms. Brooks published her first poem in a children’s magazine at the age of thirteen. yes that does say 13. ladies, it’s never to early to pursue your dreams!

When Ms. Brooks was sixteen years old, she had compiled a portfolio of around seventy-five published poems. did i mention how much of an inspiration she was for me as a teen girl knowing all this great stuff!

Her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville, published in 1945 by Harper and Row, brought her instant critical acclaim. In 1950, she published her second book of poetry, Annie Allen, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, making her the first ever African-American to be given this prize. what a history making woman!

Ms. Brooks was made Poet Lauret of Illinois in 1968. In 1988, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In 1994, she was chosen as the National Endowment for the Humanities‘ Jefferson Lecturer, one of the highest honors for American literature and the highest award in the humanities given by the federal government. In 1995, she was presented with the National Medal of Arts. Ms. Brooks was awarded more than seventy-five honorary degrees from colleges and universities worldwide.  never sitting on her laurels (literally), she kept pursuing greater heights. 

Ms. Brooks was married, had two children and died in December 2000. she will be missed but her great works live on.

here is a one of my all time favorite poems by Ms. Gwendolyn Brooks

THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.