Internet Welcomes Poets

He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry, is a poet though he has never written a line in all his life. - George Sand

I consider myself to be a connoisseur of poetry. I love its rhythm and rhyme; and I enjoy the pre-meditated structure, meticulous phrasing, and scattering of deliberate words designed to touch my emotions.

Poetry is an echo asking a shadow to dance. - Carl Sandburg

During the holidays, I often spend hours finding poems, or excerpts from poems, for each of my guests to read before our meal. Through the years I've collected a small library of poetry books that I can choose from, but more commonly, I would traipse off to the library and spend many hours glancing through dozens of books in search of the perfect poems.

Boy have things changed. The Internet is a goldmine of all things that wax poetic. Just type in the word and you'll hit the mother lode.

While searching for Christmas poetry recently I discovered the work of dozens of poets I've never read (or even heard of) by searching the Internet. Thousands of poems at the click of a mouse - what fun! If you enjoy poetry, are researching a specific poet, looking for how-to information on writing poetry, searching for inspiration, or seeking a place to post your own musings, give it a try.

You'll discover many free poetry websites offer news and feature articles on the art of poetry. They list poetry blogs, books, videos, audio, podcasts, programs, and contests. Most include biographies of famous poets, lists of well-known poems, and the history of poetry. You'll also find information on how to publish a book of your own poetry; and valuable resources including poetry terminology, poetry tips, and how-to articles. Check out these websites:
http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/

http://www.poetryfoundation.com/
http://www.poetry.com/

Many poetry websites allow visitors to post their original poems. Be sure to take a look at Poetry Soup. Post your poems and then take at look at their latest Soup news, notes, blogs, events, and articles.
http://www.poetrysoup.com/

I hope you'll enjoy the following poem I discovered when looking for Christmas poems.

Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during the moment. - Carl Sandburg

A Christmas Poem* - Jane Merchant

My grandmother sat
On Christmas morning
Mending overalls.
A tall tree glittered,
A hen was roasting,
And the room was merry
With dolls and balls,
So why was she mending
Overalls?
The air is magic
On Christmas morning
And it isn't a time
For doing chores.
We had given her
A brooch that glittered
After anxious searchings
Of ten-cent stores
So why was she working
At everyday chores?
I didn't know then
But I learned much later
That Christmas magic
Goes through and through
The fabric of living
Love, threading her needle,
Made mending
The Christmas-thing to do.

*Printed by permission from http://www.holidayspot.com/