by Alicia Rudnicki, Library Mix

Earning a dollar
Trumps good intentions daily
Where did the month go?

It has been much too long since I last published. Although my excuses are many and compelling,  let’s leave it at this:  here I am, better late than never.

Poetry of everyday life
This issue focuses on the poetry to be discovered all around us, at all ages and in everyday life, whether in the beauty of an Italian display of gelato or the sadness of this tough economy.

While researching this issue, I discovered there is even lots of poetry on YouTube, including many an urgent poetry slam performance by young people who aren’t afraid to expose feelings and thoughts that others might prefer to hide.

I frittered away many a valuable minute trying to find a poetry video that I would enjoy sharing. Eventually, I  discovered Billy Collins wonderful animated poem, Forgetfulness, which appears at the end of this article and makes me want to weep for many a lost brain cell.

Wandering lonely as a cloud
I also enjoyed squandering time at the library, wandering lonely as a cloud through the children’s and teen sections in search of titles that might fit within my vague notion of an issue about poetry. I am thankful for the librarians who aided this quest.

It was Jess Walter’s adult novel, Financial Lives of the Poets—which I discovered by chance in a library display—that set me on this chase. While the library certainly is not an unexpected place to find poetry, a novel about a failed businessman certainly is. Nor did I expect to find stories about a homeless dog or teenage terrorists set to poetry. All seemed so unlikely; but here is my final word:

Poetry pops up
In unexpected places
If you look for it.