Did you know that today is World Poetry day? No, I didn’t either. Furthermore, had you known earlier, a hand-written poem would have entitled you to a nice cup of coffee in certain cafes around the world. Shame I didn’t realise this at the beginning of the day but I bet we don’t have a participating cafe in dear old Dawlish anyway (even if we are becoming more cosmopolitan). Besides, I’ve been far too busy painting and decorating to spare time for drinking coffee or poetry writing.
However, here is a little something in recognition of the day. I’m no poetess but occasionally I have been moved to jot down a few rhyming lines, especially in times of extreme sadness or… hilarity. The poem below came to me as I walked back to my brother Bill’s house from Mannippi Parklands, Tingalpa, Brisbane. It was a few years ago when the park had been flooded and the mosquitoes were taking over the world. (Incidentally, in case you aren’t Australian, Mortein is a brand of mosquito repellent much despised by “Louis the fly”!)
RAP-BAG MOSQUITA
I’m a motor-mouth mosquita,
I’s a monster born of flood,
I hate da sun,
I likes da rain,
Most of all-
I loves yo’ blood!
I is savvy,
Not a sucker,
I tells ya that up front,
Got a razor-sharp syringe-
Could be worse, don’ whinge-
Ma weapon could be blunt!
Spray away to yo’ heart’s delight
An’cover yo’sel with cream,
I waits all day,
I got all night-
Aint “afraid of the man
With the can
Of Mortein”!
Cos I’s a different breed a mosquita,
Immune to “Rid” and “Stop”,
Get through clothes,
Wi’ ma steely nose
And, yo man,
I’s extremely hard to swat!
~~~~~~~~~
World Poetry Day Info’
World Poetry Day is a celebration of poetry, literature and free speech, observed by UNESCO every year. The day is aimed at encouraging creativity, inspiring the teaching of poetry and restoring a dialogue between poetry and other arts, such as theatre, dance and music.
PEN International also uses the day to highlight the imprisonment, murder and abuse of poets, writers and journalists around the world.
“By paying tribute to the men and women whose only instrument is free speech, who imagine and act, UNESCO recognises in poetry its value as a symbol of the human spirit’s creativity,” says Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO.
“By giving form and words to that which has none – such as the unfathomable beauty that surrounds us, the immense suffering and misery of the world – poetry contributes to the expansion of our common humanity, helping to increase its strength, solidarity and self-awareness.”
When is it?
World Poetry Day is marked on 21 March. The date was chosen during UNESCO’s 30th session, held in Paris in 1999.
How can you pay for coffee with poetry?
Austrian coffee company Julius Meinl has announced more than 1,000 of its outlets around the world will offer coffee drinkers the chance to pay for their beverage with a poem. You can find a map of all the participating stores on the Meinl Coffee website. Last year, coffee drinkers from 1,153 coffee houses in 27 countries paid for their coffee with a poem.
On last year’s scheme, CEO Marcel Löffler said: “We are proud that more than 100,000 people who live in different places of the world, have different interests and jobs and ideas, and talk different languages, still have something to share: their hearts. They embraced emotions, slowed down and replaced the normal currency with poems. On March 21st, coffee lovers gathered from around the globe.”
Thank you Sally advising poetry day
To be a good rhyme it should be in May
How bright – you’re right,
This month not a good rhyme, more of a wood time,
March only rhymes with larch (or starch!)
There once was a blogger called Sally
with whom it was hard to keep tally
on the blogs that poured forth from the South and the North
’twas sufficient to drive us doolally!
World Poetry Day comes once a year
I’m glad it ain’t more often
for if it was, I’d have to be
a brilliant poetry boffin!!