The fresh page of a notebook, the blankness of the screen—both paralyze me like a stunned tabby cat many times in my life. I’d wrestle with the introduction or the first line of a poem until I’m able to flow steadily through the piece. Where it will take and leave me I’d have no clue.Some writers…

Poetry has given so much to our culture and society that everyone should get up and read their favorite ode or sonnet aloud. At the height of my discovery, I saw an announcement on Poets.org about an online celebration called Poets-to-Poets, in which young students from grades 3-12 can write and submit poems “in response…