New West poet and artist Janet Kvammen has made six pocket-sized “poems in bottles” for people to grab for free, in time for Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 27.
Kvammen collected six poems and tucked them into tiny test-tube like bottles — compact enough to fit your jean pocket — and placed them inside New West’s Free Little Art Gallery for anyone to pick up.
The poems include ones written by her — like River as Home, Song of the River, Caws and Effect and Waiting for Their Light — and others written by Candice James, poet laureate emerita, and former poet laureate Alan Hill, she said via an Instagram message.
By carrying this small "poem in a bottle" in your pocket for just a day, you become part of the international Poem in Your Pocket Day movement.
Organized by the Academy of American Poets, it "encourages people to centre poetry within their daily interactions,” as per the League of Canadian Poets' website.
It's a chance for poetry enthusiasts to hold the words of Walt Whitman and Sylvia Plath close to them for a whole day, or explore works of New West's local poets and share their finds with others.
As for Kvammen, “It’s a fun way to share our love of poetry in celebration of National Poetry Month.”
But walking around the streets of New Westminster armed with a thoughtful poem is not the only way to observe the day.
Kvammen has many other ideas: post lines from your favourite poem on your Facebook or Instagram, send a poem to a friend, share your favourite poem on social media and use #PoemInYourPocket, #PocketPoem, #NPM23.
Take the day as an opportunity to “share a poem with a friend or a stranger.”
“Write your favourite poem on a sticky note to pass on to someone.”
Or, open a bottle to find a surprise poem in it for yourself.
At the Free Little Art Gallery, you’ll find poems in bottles, a poem booklet, poems by poet laureate Elliott Slinn, and more. You can also download a free PDF booklet with contemporary American Canadian poetry from the League of Canadian Poets website.
