Green River Star -

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

This is one of my favorite lines of poetry. Mary Oliver ends her poem, “The Summer Day,” with this question. The bulk of the poem meditates upon a moment of a grasshopper’s life. The beauty of poetry, I think, is its ability to take ordinary things and use them to push you to examine yourself, your actions, your life.

April is National Poetry month. Millions of teachers, students, librarians, booksellers, publishers, bloggers, authors, and poets take part in this celebration each April.

The Academy of Ame...