Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry
Poetry of the People
The verbena comes back,
As the wind makes its way
Down the same dirt track,
In the same sort of day.
The fleabane claims the field
As the rain makes spring feet
In the garden newly tilled
Before the summer’s heat. Continue reading “The First of May”
If you don’t believe a story
Can stay with you in the background
Like a picturesque tree you pose before
For all of your life, witness this:
I loved the baking powder can
That Billy saved his money in to buy
Those two redbone coonhounds.
The Clabber Girl with her shy smile
And plate of biscuits sits in my cabinet
And empty on the shelf beside the sink
Where I put twisty ties and pennies. Continue reading “Red Ferns and Red Hounds”
When I first started having my high school students participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day, they thought I was nuts. Carry a poem around in my pocket for a day? What? Take it home and read it to people? What? Have them sign the back of the poem? What? Continue reading “It’s In Your Pocket!”
I am a thing-finder. I am a word-finder. I am a paper-finder. I cannot walk past something handwritten on a scrap of paper that is lying on the sidewalk or in the ditch or on the seat on the bus. I can’t remember not being a thing-finder. In things, I find poetry. Continue reading “Poetry-Finder”
The black cat came in
Through the dryer vent,
Ripping a silver hole
And scrambling up
The back of the machine
And onto a pile of towels.
Okay then. What now?
–Shaun Perkins
One of the best things about living in Oklahoma is that we experience all four seasons. It was wonderful to celebrate spring in poetry, song, fellowship, and folks this weekend at our Spring is Singing event. Our calendar for the year includes events that celebrate each of the seasons. The museum exists to honor nature (rural) and poetry. Continue reading “Spring is Singing and More”
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry 