National Poetry Month is about sharing and celebrating the wonder of poetry, and what better way to celebrate than by putting poetry in a public place? Go one step beyond hopscotch squares and write a poem in chalk on your sidewalk!
Pick a favorite line from a poem and choose a clean piece of sidewalk or pavement to write on. You can search for a poem from our collection or check your bookshelf for an old favorite. Use brightly colored chalk to attract attention to your work, and add drawings or artistic flourishes to create some extra fun.
You can even make your own chalk from scratch. Parents can hold a neighborhood poetry contest, with all the participants' poems written along the sidewalks. Passersby will pause to read the lines and you'll have put a little poetry into someone's path.
Browse the below examples of submission to our Free Verse Project for inspiration:
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| The little girls / Running in the park at dusk / Are almost women now— / What you've missed... | Skin doesn't have roots, it peels away easy as paper... | As to me I know of nothing else but miracles... |
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| I carry your heart... | I am looking for the trail. / Where is my testing-tree... | I was all hers as we peeled potatoes... |