Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful day, and realizes that Valentine's Day can be about any kind of love: romantic, family, friendship, or just plain human. To celebrate the day, some friends and I went and did some volunteering at a refugee resettlement program. We get love, so we give love.

Moooving on to the realm of poetry...

For our class, students get in groups for "poetry outreach programs." This basically means organizing an event that brings poetry outside of the english department and into "the world.” Last week the first group in our class had their event, a love poetry reading in honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day. I went to be supportive (and to get some much needed personal-growth convocation credit), and strangely enough I was really spurned to think about poetry and how the average person perceives it.

The event was held in a little restaurant at our school, so people came and went, or overheard the poetry (and the less-than-subtle announcements of convo credit) and came to check it out. I think that the way the information was presented was perfect – people could pick a poem to read out of a little book the group had compiled. Interspersed within the readings were very brief biographies of some of the poets. The audience and participants were learning about poetry in a completely non-threatening manner. The compilation of poems included everything from Elizabeth Barrett Browning to the lyrics of 80’s love ballads, and I think this helped people reevaluate their definitions or assumptions about what constitutes “poetry.” As they got up to jokingly dedicate a poem to their friends, the participants were learning that poetry doesn’t have to be scary. It doesn’t have to be overanalyzed and academic – it can be fun. While I doubt anyone left with a conscious new appreciation for poetry, I’m certain that most left with one of the most positive and least threatening poetry experiences of their lives.