Today is April first. It’s also April Fools’ Day. Additionally, it happens to be the first day of National Poetry Month. Maybe if I looked a bit further, I’d find several other items of notable consideration, but I’m going to stop there.
My first participation in National Poetry Month was in 2014, so ten years ago. It was mildly amusing for me to offer posts with original poems in this space. I also participated in 2015, but after that, I stopped. I didn’t cease writing poetry. I just didn’t find it necessary to use the month of April as an incentive. However, in the last year, I’ve conducted some serious study of poetry and thought this would be an appropriate occasion to share my thoughts.
What better day to begin my posts on poetry than April Fools’ Day?! Apparently, the history of the day goes way back … theories about its origin abound. Throughout time, there have been tricksters who perpetrated hoaxes and spoofs designed to impress. Over my lifetime, I recall television shows which offered a variation on the theme. I think of Candid Camera with pranks based on a hidden camera. These were often elaborate setups where people unexpectedly got fooled.
More recently, television shows including Impractical Jokers, Jackass and Punk’d earned an audience with their antics. There must be others, and of course, social media serves a steady diet. Full disclosure, I don’t watch much television these days, so I don’t think I’ve viewed any of them. I recall watching Candid Camera in the old days when Allen Funt hosted. Since he died in 1999, it’s been a long while ago!
Over the years, however, I’ve come to believe we take life too seriously, and conversely, we don’t laugh enough! Are the cares of this life so monumental that we forget to laugh? I wonder.
Thinking about today, I decided I must become an enthusiastic advocate for April Fools’ Day! Herewith then, my initial effort for National Poetry Month 2024. Laugh it up! Devise a really fun (and funny) prank! Go on, you have one day a year to make it happen. Do your worst!
