April 10, 2025
Hello You,
Today is “Poem in Your Pocket Day - a day for sharing favourite poems that can easily slip inside a pocket for safe keeping. It started in New York City in April of 2002, then spread across the States via the Academy of American Poets in 2008, and in 2016, the League of Canadian Poets joined in on this joyous celebration of poetry.
A few days ago, I typed up multiple copies of a couple of poems to share with others, glued them to some sturdy scraps of paper, and then stamped them with some of the eraser stamps I’ve been carving over the last few months. This morning, I strung the poems on an old lanyard so I could carry them around my neck and give them to people I met while running errands.
The first person to receive a poem for their pocket was our amazing local Canada Post Delivery person, Lis, (who I actually flagged down as they were driving down the road!) Then it was off the Valley for the first Jonny’s Cookhouse visit of the season with my dearheart, and to see how many poems I could hand out along the way. (I’m so lucky to have such an understanding partner-in-art who is always game for my shenanigans!)
By the end of the afternoon, I’d given poems to librarians and library volunteers, thrift store customers, drugstore cashiers, cookhouse workers, and a certain special toddler and his dad who happened to be strolling down the road when we got home.
As you probably gathered from the video, I had so much fun putting together the pocket poems for today, that I decided to create a way for the fun to continue all year round. There’s now a small tin containing a collection of “First-Aid Poems” held by a magnet on the inside wall of my Little Free Library. Any time someone needs a boost, they can simply pick a poem from the box and take it home.
It won’t be long before I’ll be wandering around the province again with my typewriter —finding quiet spots in parks, courtyards, gardens, hiking trails, and beaches where I can write my own poems for the people — but until then, I wish you a very happy Poem in your Pocket Day.
Quick Question:
If you had to choose a poem to put in your pocket right now, what would it be? (and why?) Please put your answer in the comments! I’d love for us to see each other’s responses and get a little poetry cross-pollination going.
Share this post