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Tell Us More: Share Your Inner Poet

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now, this programming note. April is coming and it's not just bringing showers. It's bringing poetry. We had so much fun with our Muses and Metaphors series last year, we decided to do it again. To remind you, we decided to commemorate National Poetry Month by combining two of our passions, poetry and social media. And we need your help. Go to Twitter and tweet us your original poetry using fewer than 140 characters and the hash tag #TMMPoetry.

And just as we did last year, we've asked Washington, D.C.-based poet and performer Holly Bass to review the submissions and work with us to select our favorites and to give you a flavor of what we are looking for, let's listen to a couple of poetic tweets that we aired last year.

Remember, these are short, so listen carefully.

BRENT BETIT: Elogy for Brian. Your soul bulleting into the sky, the rifle's sharp report, a blue heron I saw flying at night, outlined against a quicksilver moon.

CATHERINE RUSSO: I stand here, see the world with aged eyes, appearance of youth like warped glass and now even birds feel heavy in this place.

MARTIN: That first tweet was from Brent Betit, founder of Landmark College in Vermont. That college is designed for students with learning disabilities. You also heard a poem by Catherine Russo, a freelance writer from Washington, D.C. and she is also an advocate for children with special needs.

Again, you can start sending us your poetic tweets at hash tag #TMMPoetry. If your poem is chosen, we will help you record it. It's our Muses and Metaphors series and it airs throughout the month of April, where we broadcast your poetic tweets. To learn more, go to NPR.org, select TELL ME MORE from the program page and read about it on our blog.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.