The Academy of American Poets established April as poetry month way back in 1996, to help remind the public that poetry matters . Now in its 25th year, the association has posted 25 ways to celebrate poetry in your home and online .

The New York Law Institute will celebrate poetry month with a contest and asks you to share your couplets commemorating a funny Zoom, WebEx, Skype, or Microsoft Teams meeting.

While technology has allowed us all to “see” each other online, it does have its funny moments— so get your rhymes and syllables in order as the deadline is April 19th.

And, as a tie in to National Library Week , NYLI will contribute $5 for every poem submitted (with a maximum of $250) to LLAGNY’s Grants & Scholarship Fund. Created in 1958 by the American Library Association (ALA), this year’s theme, “Welcome to Your Library,” promotes the idea that libraries extend far beyond the four walls of a building. 

So send those funny couplets to emoog@nyli.org.

We ask that the poems be PG rated — the scatological should be avoided.

Winner will be chosen by NYLI’s panel of judges (Lucy Curci-Gonzalez, Eileen Dolan, Ellyssa Valenti Kroski, and Karen Oesterle) and announced on April 26th.

The prize is the glory of having your poem highlighted on our blog — and a $50 gift card.

Looking forward to sharing some poetry — and well-needed laughs — with our colleagues !!