Next Wednesday might be the one day during a year on which someone is more likely to turn to you and ask, “Who’s your favorite poet?”
That’s because July 19, 2023 (third Wednesdays of July), is marked Take Your Poet to Work Day.
Where will you be on the third Wednesday of July this year?
Take Your Poet to Work Day “celebrates poets and poetry” by bringing poetry enthusiasts together at work, school, or wherever we see others and could create an opportunity for connection. This is a great way to introduce or reignite an interest in poetry. Whether among family, friends, peers, or strangers, who knows: bringing your favorite poet along for the day could begin a new friendship or association, through mutual interest and proximity, in an unexpected way!
Is that a Poet in Your Pocket?
People take paper cutouts of poets around with them in their pockets, place them on their desks, or put them in their drawers. This gives them extra motivation to get through the day.
National Today (“Take Your Poet to Work Day” FAQs)
Wherever you’ll be, it’s the day to be ready to share—the one time of year that almost anybody could ask, “Who’s your favorite poet?”.
Spread the message:
Which poet will you talk about on #TakeYourPoetToWorkDay? #July #Observance
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Resources: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/take-your-poet-to-work-day-makes-poetry-fun_b_59676d45e4b0524d8fa7fb3b
Life's Poetic Essence 
Funny .. it’s also my birthday on the 20th .. in my collection, I have, W.B. Yeats, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Banjo Patterson, and Henry Lawson, but my favourite will always be Leonard Cohen
Happens To The Heart
I was always working steady
But I never called it art
I was funding my depression
Meeting Jesus reading Marx
Sure it failed my little fire
But it’s bright the dying spark
Go tell the young messiah
What happens to the heart
There’s a mist of summer kisses
Where I tried to double-park
The rivalry was vicious
And the women were in charge
It was nothing, it was business
But it left an ugly mark
So I’ve come here to revisit
What happens to the Heart
I was selling holy trinkets
I was dressing kind of sharp
Had a pussy in the kitchen
And a panther in the yard
In the prison of the gifted
I was friendly with the guard
So I never had to witness
What happens to the Heart
A page from one of Leonard Cohen’s diaries.
A page from one of Leonard Cohen’s diaries.
I should have seen it coming
You could say I wrote the chart
Just to look at her was trouble
It was trouble from the start
Sure we played a stunning couple
But I never liked the part
It ain’t pretty, it ain’t subtle
What happens to the Heart
Now the angel’s got a fiddle
And the devil’s got a harp
Every soul is like a minnow
Every mind is like a shark
I’ve opened every window
But the house, the house is dark
Just say Uncle, then it’s simple
What happens to the heart
I was always working steady
But I never called it art
The slaves were there already
The singers chained and charred
Now the arc of justice bending
And the injured soon to march
I lost my job defending
What happens to the Heart
I studied with this beggar
He was filthy he was scarred
By the claws of many women
He had failed to disregard
No fable here no lesson
No singing meadowlark
Just a filthy beggar blessing
What happens to the heart
I was always working steady
But I never called it art
I could lift, but nothing heavy
Almost lost my union card
I was handy with a rifle
My father’s .303 We fought for something final
Not the right to disagree
Sure it failed my little fire
But it’s bright the dying spark
Go tell the young messiah
What happens to the heart
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Thanks so much for your comment. I could listen to Leonard Cohen hours on end. Might I also suggest, for readers, “Dear Diary” from Leonard Cohen’s Book of Longing.
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His writings are fascinating
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Also, @ivor20, a Happy Birthday to you this week—
May it ever so be
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It’ll be a happy 71st , and every extra year is a special one 🌏🤗
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