National Poetry Day 2012

Did you know that today was National Poetry Day? No, I didn't either until I heard it on Radio 4's 'Today' programme this morning. I decided I would contribute by reading some poetry on my way to and from work today from my new collection of poems, 'The World Record', published as part of the Poetry Parnassus festival.

The Poetry Parnassus was part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and was launched by the Rain of Poems event back in June. Poetry was all over the Southbank if you chose to look at it - written on walls and on placards hung on the railings by the Thames. There was poetry from each of the 204 countries competing in the Olympic Games and, I think, that's what attracted me to to the collection. I went into Foyles and asked if they had the poems on display along the Southbank and that is where I found 'The World Record'.

Of course, as soon as I got on the bus to work I realised that I'd forgotten the book. How can I contribute to National Poetry Day? I decided the answer was to write a poem and tweet it to the world. This is what I wrote:

Where the wild things are

Is the place to be

With flames and snow and wind and hail

And a storm brewing out at sea

That's all. But I now consider myself to be a published poet. Of course, no-one commented on my poem or retweeted it but I choose to believe that's because everyone was stunned by its literary merit, its philosophical conciseness and its depth of meaning. I believe.

What did you do for National Poetry Day?