“Perhaps the mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people—the beauty within themselves.”—Langston Hughes

To celebrate National Poetry Month, On Thursday April 30, the Library will host a Virtual Open Mic for kids and teens. This event will take place from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. If you have submitted poetry please join in to read your poems! Attend the program by accessing Zoom with this link on 4/30.

Writing is a solitary activity, and as we are socially distancing it can become even more solitary and lonesome if we don’t have a place to share our work collectively. In the past I have done readings in the city and in Westchester. The joy of hearing the work of my friends and sharing my own writing creates a connection between people that is inspiring.

This feeling of interconnectedness (as we explore our new virtual reality) might help us along the way during our pandemic.

I have also had a hard time creating and that’s okay too. Right now it is about self-nurturing, healing, working together collectively, and being able to connect with each other in a virtual world without becoming overwhelmed with task after task.

So, if you are like me and haven’t created much lately, you can just join with your favorite poem. I will be reading some of my favorite poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. We want to hear from you and say a friendly hello because we miss our patrons!

Here are some questions to think about:

• Why is writing so important?
• How can poetry help us during a pandemic?
• What are some of your favorite poems?
• What inspires you to write or draw your poetry?
• After hearing the poems read today what do you think the writers are expressing?