the happiest place in the library

April is a very special month for me because it is National Poetry Month and I always make a fun display for the library.  This year National Poetry Month began in March when I asked the people in the poetry workshop I facilitate to help me with a special part of the display.  I thought National Poetry Month would be the perfect time to celebrate one of my favorite forms, the Haiku.  First, I decided our topic would be spring.  I then wrote the five senses out twice on pieces of paper in addition to two special pieces of paper - the opener that closed winter and the closing that opened to summer.  Each piece of paper had a special # attached to it for how it would fit into a Renga, which is a poem composed of many haikus.  Each person in the workshop drew out pieces of paper from the bowl and wrote a haiku about experiencing spring through the sense that was chosen.  For example, the sense of smell was a poem about a dog sniffing the butts of other dogs during a spring romp - no joke - enlarge it and you will see!  After the haikus were written everyone read their poems according to the number attached to the piece of paper they drew.  Two lucky poets wrote the opening and closing for the collaborative poem and wrapped up the Renga beautifully.  

Then each person carefully wrote their poem on a pretty piece of paper of their choice.  I took those papers home and cut them into flowers for a collage piece I created for National Poetry Month. It was such a marvelous experience.  

Doing a collage project often requires the entire floor of my craft room and more time spent vacuuming than creating : ).  I had a lot of fun matching the poets and their poems to the accent colors of the flowers.  

Don't worry, in addition to the collage, my display is bursting with poetry books handpicked by my coworkers and me.  

I think it's currently the happiest place in the library.