It's Poem in Your Pocket Day!

On one day in April, as part of National Poetry Month, people in America & Canada celebrate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others throughout the day at schools, bookshops, libraries, parks, workplaces, and on Twitter using the hashtag #pocketpoem. This year, the day is today!

We need very little excuse to share poetry, so here's a poem from Joanna Ezekiel's new collection Homecoming, published today by Valley Press!

Bridesmaid, Essex, 1976

In a pink blossom dress
I follow her satin dazzle.
She is marrying my cousin
who Mum says is the spit of Elvis
twenty years ago, not now.

Just beyond the canopy
Nan sits alone, no apron,
frowns at my swinging legs.
I imagine long grass swaying
in time to Hebrew rhythms.

From the children's table
I gaze at the square lawn
of dancefloor, sown with disco beats.
My little brother wears a bow tie.
We clap our hands.