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
April is just such an amazing month and I hope that during the month we have opened some doors and allowed you to ponder the moments that poets captured to share.
And while I love every day of National Poetry Month… perhaps the best day is Poem for Your Pocket Day. The idea is that poetry is something you can carry with you. It is something that you can read and reread…over and over again. It is also for everyday life…and it can be very relatable like the poem I chose for my pocket today!
I heard a poem written by Connie Wanek and it caused me to stop what I was doing and go search on the internet to see what I could learn about her, which led me to Monopoly. It brought back memories of playing it for hours on end with my cousins and my cousin, Bill being almost always being that one person. I hope this poem brings back fond memories for you today, that perhaps you consider it again with adult eyes, and hopefully you will print it out and tuck it in your pocket to read again later today.
Monopoly
by Connie Wanek
We used to play, long before we bought real houses.
A roll of the dice could send a girl to jail.
The money was pink, blue, gold, as well as green,
and we could own a whole railroad
or speculate in hotels where others dreaded staying:
the cost was extortionary.
At last one person would own everything,
every teaspoon in the dining car, every spike
driven into the planks by immigrants,
every crooked mayor.
But then, with only the clothes on our backs,
we ran outside, laughing.
Poem copyright ©2016 by Connie Wanek, “Monopoly,” from Rival Gardens: New and Selected Poems, (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2016).
I hope this month has been amazing for you. Make sure you stop and see what Kym, Bonny, and Sarah have for your pocket today! I can’t think of a better thing that a pocket full of poems to carry you through your day!
Finally, I’d like to thank Kym for including me in this amazing month! Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here next week!
This reminds me so much of my childhood! It’s funny, isn’t it, how so many of us look back fondly on playing Monopoly as kids? I have to say that it doesn’t have the same allure as an adult (maybe because paying rent and such is real now). But this poem really captures the fun of it.
LOL – so many memories. One of my brothers and I would always play Monopoly when we were sick (we always got sick at the same time). Hours and hours and hours of going around and around the board.
That is a truly great poem and it brought back great (and some not-so-great) memories of playing Monopoly! Thank you for sharing this one and I am going to be looking for more from Connie Wanek. It’s been such a pleasure enjoying National Poetry Month with you!
Of all the poems shared this month, THIS is the one that has left me speechless.
I love the way this poet writes. I can picture the game perfectly with her perfect descriptive verses. I got a good laugh from her other poem you linked to your post as I remember girdles! The things we did to look “slender”!?! LOL! Thanks!
That’s a great poem and I love the universal memories of Monopoly it has invoked.
I HATE Monopoly! Ha! But it’s such a great reminder that good poetry captures the everyday life of so many of us.
Thanks for posting so much poetry this month! I’ve really enjoyed it 🙂
I used to beg my sister to play with me, she didn’t like it as much as I did. I LOVED that game. My husband growing up would play with his older brother and keep the game going for days, making more money to add to the bank.
What a fabulous poem, Kat! It’s one of those poems that will fit Just Right in my pocket. 😉
(And it reminds me that while I don’t enjoy playing Monopoly now that I’m an adult, I just loved playing with my cousins or my friends as a kid. We made up a lot of our own rules back then, as I recall. . . ) Thanks so much for all the poetry you’ve shared this month! XO
Oh Monopoly. We played but I never liked it because we never could finish a game. Poem in your pocket day is a good day.