Wed, Apr 4th, 2012
April is National Poetry Month.  The Academy of American Poets encourages us to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops and other events. Hocking College is no exception.  The School of Arts & Sciences organizes an open poetry reading every April.  In fact, some of you may remember our first, "Hocking's Favorite Poems" reading, when nearly 150 people - administrators, faculty, support staff, and students  - came together to hear favorite poems, and the reasons those poems were held so dear!

This year's open reading will take place on Thursday, April 26, 2012 in Oakley 209 from 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.  Come to read a poem (your own or someone else's) or simply listen to a few.  The event is meant to be open and casual, so people can come and go as they please.

Aside from Hocking College's open reading here on campus, several COMM faculty will participate in a poetry reading on Sunday, April 22, 2012, which will also serve as a fundraiser for My Sister's Place.  The reading, titled "Women on The Line," will be held at ARTs West in Athens at 7 p.m.  Hocking College poets Jane Ann Fuller, Deni Naffziger, and Jean Mikhail will be featured readers.

The following poem by William Stafford, Any Morning, reminds us to maintain a balance in our lives and to remember who we really are when no one is looking.

Any Morning
 
Just lying on the couch and being happy.
Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment; it has
so much to do in the world.
 
People who might judge are mostly asleep; they can't
monitor you all the time, and sometimes they forget.
When dawn flows over the hedge you can
get up and act busy.
 
Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People won't even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.
 
Later in the day you can act like the others.
You can shake your head. You can frown.
 
~ William Stafford ~

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