Massachusetts Poet Laureate

Since April 2004, I've been writing about Massachusetts being one of very few states without a State Poet Laureate.

This past April, which was National Poetry Month, I wrote a blog post again about Massachusetts being one of only eight states without its own Poet Laureate.

Then recently, I started noticing a flurry of activity on my sitemeter. Several people ended up on my blog after Googling "Massachusetts Poet Laureate" and other similar searches. I looked at some of the other results of the search and saw an article stating that there was pending legislation.

I looked online and found House Bill 3538 and House Bill 3146. Both Bills would create the position of Poet Laureate for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. According to the legislation history, there was a Public Hearing in July, however only HB 3146 moved forward. On September 29th, the Bill was reported favorably and referred to the Joint Committee on Rules.

I spoke to a staff member and was told that the legislation appears to be moving forward and may be heard on the House Floor this week. If HB 3146 moves forward and becomes law, then Massachusetts may soon have a Poet Laureate. I have no idea what poets will be in the running for nominations, but it will be interesting to find out. I wonder who it will be and what their first poem will be like.

The timing of this post was perfectly aligned with a postcard that I received a couple of days ago. I'm not sure who it's from, but it's really beautiful.
When I find out, I'll update this post to credit the artist.

Back in August, I joined the Kindness Swap on the blog Stories I Can Tell. I should be receiving another postcard soon and two people will receive the ones that I sent also.

The quote on the back of my postcard is from Emily Dickinson. It reads, "Beauty is not caused. It is."

Emily Dickinson is one of the most noteable of all American poets and she was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. I think it was quite fitting that I should receive a quote of hers as a gentle reminder of poets in Massachusetts.

*Updated 10/13/09* The artist who created the beautiful postcard for me is named Celeste Eve Johnston. Her blog is called The Musings of Me. I hope that you'll check out her blog and more of her beautiful art in her Etsy shop Celestes Art. Thank you for the beautiful postcard Celeste!

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