Kate has a wonderful idea (do check it out) for celebrating National Poetry Month that requires a little more than just posting a favorite poem:
"The challenge is simply to post about poetry at least once in the month of April. The post could be a review of a collection of poetry, a broader meditation on the work of a favourite poet, or a detailed analysis of a single poem. Simply posting a poem doesn't count unless you go on to say something about that poem. The idea is to dare to be critical (as in analytical, not necessarily negative) and venture an opinion."
I love poetry. I love John Donne and Emily Dickinson; Yeats and Dylan Thomas; Peter Meinke and Stanley Kunitz; Edna St. Vincent Millay and Galway Kinnell; Naomi Shihab Nye, Muriel Rukeyser, Anne Sexton, Denise Levertov; James Stephens, Theodore Roethke, W. H. Auden, Basho...
Here is a poem that will fit into the
Once Upon a Time and
Twisted Fairy Tale challenges:
How to Change a Frog into a Prince
Anna Denise
Start with the underwear. Sit him down.
Hopping on one leg may stir unpleasant memories.
If he gets his tights on, even backwards, praise him.
Fingers, formerly webbed, struggle over buttons.
Arms and legs, lengthened out of proportion, wait,
as you do, for the rest of him to catch up.
This body, so recently reformed, reclaimed,
still carries the marks of its time as a frog. Be gentle.
Avoid the words awkward and gawky.
Do not use tadpole as a term of endearment.
His body, like his clothing, may seem one size too big.
Relax. There's time enough for crowns. He'll grow into it.
Some poems are difficult to understand and require multiple readings, and I love poems like that, poems that require intuition and effort. But I love poems like this one - poems that are instantly accessible, a bit silly and a bit serious. I love poems that "connect," as this one does to something that I'm reading or thinking about.
An easy poem,
"How to Change a Frog into a Prince" is about transformation, and we are all transforming, but it is also about patience and kindness. It is tongue-in-cheek and perceptive - a gentle blend. It seems to say that love of all kinds requires acceptance and that princes, children, friends, lovers, and spouses are all subject to growth, to change, and that we have a role in these transitions. And humor helps.
"Relax. There's time enough for crowns. He'll grow into it." Maybe we will, too.