South Pasadena Library Celebrates National Poetry Month with “A New Beginning”

South Pasadena current Poet Laureate, Ronald Koertge (Photo – southpasadenaca.gov)

The South Pasadena Public Library invited residents of all ages to contribute to a crowdsourced poem in celebration of National Poetry Month.

By News Desk

The idea for a South Pasadena community poem came from City of South Pasadena Poet Laureate Ron Koertge, who was inspired by young poet Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb” and by National Public Radio’s Poet-in-Residence Kwame Alexander’s recent crowdsourced poem “This is Our Dream”.

Contributions for the South Pasadena poem came from kids as young as six years old to adults. Koertge wove the thoughts and lines submitted into one poem titled “A New Beginning.”

Koertge explained:

Collecting a lot of suggestions and making them into one poem meant taking things that were different colors and sizes and shapes and seeing how they’d fit together.  I started out by seeing which contributions wanted to get next to each other.  After a lot of shuffling and moving things around, pretty soon I had a kind of song that had a theme and refrain.  Then I’d read out loud until I was happy with the melody.

The library will wrap up the National Poetry Month celebration by publishing a recitation of “A New Beginning” by the members of the South Pasadena High School Drama Club at the end of April.

Koertge expressed his appreciation for everyone who took the time to contribute to this communal poem. He and the South Pasadena Public Library recognize the following people for their contributions:

Afshin Ketabi, Anonymous, Ansel Law, Benjamin Regan, Bianca Richards, Cookie, Diala Faddoul, Jennifer Tuason, Katie Telser, Kay Mouradian, Krysten, Leo Tuason, Linda Castro, Maida Wong, Margaret Finnegan, Margo F. Newman, Marlane McAlexander Osman, Megan Bennett, Michael D. Toman, Mike Bonifer, Miss Lang, Pam Jones, Paul Kikuchi, Robin Meyer, Shana Brewer, Sharon Sprenger, Sherry Fuqua-Gilson, Sorrel Barnard, Tylene.