Poetry in Bloom: 30 days of Seattle-centric themes and verses

Dear Readers and Listeners,

Thank you for following along this month as we rolled out 30 days of poetry in celebration of National Poetry Month. Over the past month, we featured poems on place, racial grief, environmental and cultural loss, Seattle weather and drivers, and more.

There are infinite topics and poets who are worthy of your attention, beyond what appeared on these digital pages or on the airwaves. Please buy and read poetry from our indie bookstores like Open Books and support living, working poets by attending poetry reading series like Margin Shift at Common Area Maintenance. Get outside your language comfort zone and lose yourself in something different.

Poetry exists as any other art does. For the sake of being, in and of itself. We expect a lot from our poems. But they can also deliver. Poetry has the capacity to build bridges, open minds, and stir the heart, while bringing perspective to difficult topics.

I find myself returning to poetry for its capacity to make me feel less alone in this world. And so I leave you with a closing haiku comic, illustrated by my friend Justin Rueff and written by me during the darkest days of pandemic, with inspiration due and thanks given to my community.

Your Poet in Chief,

Shin Yu Pai