Have you read a poem lately?

If you haven't read poetry in a while, now is the perfect time to start again - April is National Poetry Month. In his National Poetry Month proclamation, Governor Inslee called on “…all the people of Washington to observe National Poetry Month in a more meaningful, personal way…as a means to offer comfort and solace to those who are suffering as a result of the Oso mudslide.” One way to do so is to submit a poem yourself to the Art with a Heart – Response to Oso tumblr forum. The Washington State Arts Commission runs the forum. Among the poems you can find there is one written by Elizabeth Austen, the Washington State Poet Laureate. If you would like to read poetry written by other Washington state poets, browse the Washington State Library’s collection for the poetry books listed in our catalog. Here are just a few excerpts from that collection that might, as the governor said, “offer comfort and solace.” Grace Abounding

I’m saved in this big world by unforeseen friends, or times when only a glance from a passenger beside me, or just the tired branch of a willow inclining toward earth, may teach me how to join earth and sky. Even in Quiet Places by William Stafford (1996) Nooksack Valley At the far end of a trip north In a berry-pickers cabin At the edge of a wide muddy field Stretching to the woods and cloudy mountains, Feeding the stove all afternoon with cedar, Watching the dark sky darken, a heron flap by, Riprap, & Cold Mountain Poems by Gary Snyder (1965)

Riverbed We walk on round stones, all flawlessly bedded, Where water drags the cracked dome of the sky Riverbed by David Wagoner (1972) His Father’s Whistle For hours the boy fought sleep, strained against the whir of cicadas, moths at the screens bumbling, night’s blue breezes, to hear out on the country road his father’s car rumbling in gravel. Earthly Meditations by Robert Wrigley (2006)

Northern Lights Once more it’s the rainbow leaps and foldings of the old process, a whole border of pink roses growing wild on the horizon. The Dark Path of Our Names by Joan Swift (1985) Mount Alaska Stream In the pines where the sun never shines a small, damp fire filled mountains green lungs of each century Orcas Island by Don Wilsun (1980)

Untitled by Nasira Alma in cascades down the blooming rocks yesterday’s rain Sunlight through Rain: A Northwest Haiku Year (1996) Come and visit us, or browse the catalog, if you’re looking for a poetry book written in or about the Pacific Northwest.