Muses And Metaphor 2013: Tweet Us Your Poetry!
Poetry and social media join forces once again in April. Tell Me More celebrates National Poetry Month with its 3rd annual Muses and Metaphor series. We'll feature poems exchanged via Twitter by NPR fans — always in 140 characters or fewer. Tweet your poem using the hashtag: #TMMPoetry.
This year, we've more than 1000 responses, and we've heard poetic tweets from a doctor in Philadelphia,Pa.; a translator in Chicago, Ill.; an Egyptian-American poet in Washington, DC; and the renowned poets Elizabeth Alexander and Nikki Giovanni. We've also heard poems about the Boston marathon bombings.
Keep up wit the series on Twitter, stop by our Storify below, or listen to what we've aired so far below.
Poet, writer and performer Holly Bass is the curator of Muses and Metaphor. Tell Me More host Michel Martin kicked off the series with Bass in early April.
April 29, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Robert Tinajero of El Paso, Texas:
"When I was young,tacos were seen as poor food" People al pastor forced to hide between the flour of "civilized" American culture
— by @RobertTinajero
April 26, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Susan Crane of Longmont, Colo.:
Tonight I make love to the lilacs, blossoms warm from afternoon sun. Wishing you could see how beautiful we look without you
— by @prinsing
April 25, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Sarah Jones of Seattle, Wash.:
Petals from the cherry blossom / bless the pavement / like the puckered lips / of a preschooler with pigtails.
— by @writer_sejones
April 24, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Roberta Beary of Bethesda, Md.:
April 23, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Randi Ward of Belleville, W.V.:
April 22, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from creative writing professor Luisa Igloria of Norfolk, Va.:
Oh love, Oh neighbor, Oh stranger huddled in fear, waiting for parole. How much more we belong to each other, and wait to be consoled.
— by @ThePoetsLizard
April 19, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from translator Su Layug of Chicago, Ill.:
childhood westerns unzzsing the fog, rrring the ties, kssting the bearings. Mother had no words for it, My tongue, no home
— by @su_layug
April 16, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from mother and doctor Kaya Oyejide of Philadelphia, Pa.:
April 15, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from acclaimed poet Elizabeth Alexander
First housefly, first bee/staggers in flight and falls/on the windowsill./April redux,/come spring, coming in.
— by @ProfessorEA
April 12, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Kat Chow of NPR's Code Switch:
April 11, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Chris Johnston of Pittsburgh, Pa.:
In the bazaar for the ennui of rolled tobacco and the company of the unaccompanied the parchesi & tiny espresso cups
— by @boinkaz
April 10, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Christina Lux of Lawrence, Kansas:
Muses And Metaphor 2013: Tweet Us Your Poetry!
Propped on white sheets
MiracleBra tossed
on a vacant chair
scanning the pamphlet
"Your Breast, Our Surgeon"
like I'm not scared
— by @ca_lux
April 9, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from former Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue. He writes under the pen name A.M. Juster:
Early April
Winter drums cold tunes
The old word-pile sheds its slush
What burns is unseen
— by Michael Astrue
April 8, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Joel Dias-Porter of Atlantic City, N.J.:
April 5, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Bauke Kamstra of Nova Scotia, Canada. Hear it read by host Michel Martin:
April 4, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from Yahia Lababidi:
Spinning a word shaped web and waiting. To catch something of sustenance. Wrap it in silk and ingest it. So that I might dream again.
— by @YahiaLababidi
April 3, 2013
Today's tweeted poem comes from world-renowned poet Nikki Giovanni:
Morgantown, WVA
(Haiku for Ethel and Lucy)
Pinto Beans Fried Corn Bread
Clean Spring Water Rocking Chair
Your Smile Home Peace
— by Nikki Giovanni
April 2, 2013
We kicked off Muses and Metaphor with a tweet from poet, writer and series curator Holly Bass of Washington DC:
In Paris, I pass patisserie Laduree
macarons stacked like
brilliant bijoux in Easter hues
a ring for every finger
— by @HollyBass360