Why poetry?

I had planned on writing in this space about how accomplished all of the Number S#gns writers are by mentioning all the collective awards and publications and accolades. But as they have each miraculously trusted me with their poem, I have been thinking more about the "ordinariness" inside of their extraordinariness. In addition to writing, Number S#gns poets are moms, grandmas,  aunties, dads, spouses, single parents, Las Vegas natives, CA transplants, flag football players, classic film historians, chemists, estheticians, librarians, documentarians, Brooklynites, dog lovers, painters, illustrators, teachers/professors, crafters, runners, conservationists, military brats and so much more that I don't even know about!  Yes, they are also NY Times Best-Sellers, National Book Award Winners, and MOTH Grand-Slam Champions, but a poem scratches off  the shininess and reveals the boiled-down truth. I love Lawrence Ferlinghetti's quote:  "Poetry is the shortest distance between two humans" because a poem can connect the reader to that writer, no matter how "far away" they seem, in an instant.

After you are blown away by their poems, please read more about them and their work, be mesmerized and inspired by their accomplishments, and then do yourself a favor and go check out their stuff from your library or throw down some cash at your local indie! 

Follow them on socials and follow me too, please.  If you're also a writer, keep reading and praising and promoting colleagues' work. Plus, reading cures loneliness. (Not that I've been lonely. Ever. Nope, not me.)

Thank you again for visiting, happy spring, and enjoy Number S#gns.

Love,

Jen