Since 1995 April has been National Poetry Month. I’m not a poet, but when my Creative Nonfiction teacher (Amy Ritchie Johnson) gave the class an assignment  to write a nonsense poem, I had to come up with something—and here it is!

SCHIZO

What’s the difference between a beet,

A round, red, sweet beet?

It must be trees—a trillion trees

With billions of buds and billions of bees.

Why that answer? Why? Why?

Because two salmon swim in the sky.

A motorcycle has no doors,

No roof, no windows, no mats for floors.

But that’s okay. It does not matter.

We’re saved by chocolate peanut batter.

And Grandma rides old lady bikes

With three tall wheels. She vaults over dykes.

And when those thoughts go bump in the night,

They leap from corners to laugh in the light.

I cover my eyes. I cover my ears.

I shake in my shoes and scald in my tears.

My brain is swollen, cracked and black.

Six special spiders sit stitching it back.

It was a fun exercise.

I first became aware of poetry in high school when Mrs. Fischer, my English teacher, gave us a quote for the day to memorize. It was often Emily Dickinson, but sometimes Shakespeare or Poe. I memorized “The Raven”—also “Bells” and “Annabelle Lee.” Poe has been a favorite ever since, along with Sherman Alexie, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan.

The Academy of American Poets was founded in 1934 in New York City with a mission of supporting American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry. On their website, poets.org, you can buy books, keep up with poetry, and sign up for a poem a day—for free!

If you’re not a poet, why bother? Consider the words of Tracy K. Smith, U.S. Poet Laureate.