An example of the poem-by-email you’ll get. © Laurie Blackwell, 2017
Been stewing in fear and stress for a while? Scared to go online for fear of what you will find? Need some good news? My friend Laurie, who runs LoneBlackBird, is starting a month of daily mail that will relieve your stress and put a smile on your face. And yes, this is a giveaway post!
Laurie is a teacher who helps kids who have difficulty learning how to read. Now she’s helping anyone who wants to open their email anticipating good news.
Every day in April, Laurie is sending out a hand-drawn email with a short, encouraging poem from well-known and lesser-known writers. April is National Poetry Month, and Laurie wants to introduce people to poetry who have never thought about it, those who don’t know what to think about poetry, and those who love poetry.
There will be a link to the entire poem, or the poem in an anthology of similar poems. Best of all, you can print out the entire image.
What can you do with the printed piece?
These poems beg to be colored and put into your journal. © Laurie Blackwell, 2017.
Well, if you are among the huge group of coloring fans, you can print out the pieces, color them, and create a journal with them.
Or you can simply print them out and put them in your journal the way they are.
You can share them with your kids and have a real conversation about what the words mean, who the poet was (or is), and, if you are home schooling parent or teacher, use them as a prompt for poetry writing.
There is a perfectly good reason to open your email every day in April and know there is a smile waiting for you. It’s an excellent way to anticipate the best every morning and be rewarded for it!
What a way to start your morning–coffee and coloring! © Laurie Blackwell, 2017
How to win a month worth of smiles: Laurie is giving away three free subscriptions to the poem-a-day for the month of April. All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post and keep your fingers crossed.
Three winners will be drawn at random on Wednesday, April 5, after 6 p.m. in Phoenix and announced on Thursday’s blog.
You can also follow Laurie on Instagram and see what she is up to. She teaches online and in-person courses that are kind, gentle, and a welcome relief from our frenetic world.
—Quinn McDonald is a poet and non-fiction writer who is delighted to support the positive poetry posting.
QuinnCreative 