April

(Painting: "Fields in Spring" by Claude Monet)
Where has the time gone? It is already April. My sister informs me that April is National Poetry Month. I already knew that April is Autism Awareness Month, but out of curiosity, I Googled what else April is (besides the 4th month of the Gregorian calendar). It is also Alcohol Awareness Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Genocide Prevention Month, and National STD Awareness Month. For an amazingly long list, click the link here at "April Holidays 2009". It also lists weekly and daily observances for April.

So back to Poetry Month....on my sister's blog, my mom mentioned in a comment that she remembers reciting a Robert Frost poem in 7th grade, which is one of my favorites.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. 

But my all time favorite poem is one of the only poems that I have memorized (besides some cute Shel Silverstein poems:  "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair, Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy was he?").  It is also by Robert Frost and I read it for the first time in S.E. Hinton's book, "The Outsiders" that I read as a teenager. It is pretty appropriate for spring and April, too.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

So read some poetry this month and share any that you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~
Neat