Tweetspeak Poetry

  • Home
  • FREE prompts
  • Earth Song
  • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • Books, Etc.
  • Patron Love

A Random Day of Poetry

By Will Willingham 8 Comments

Random Acts of Poetry Day rainbow seashell
There are times where, behind the curtain of our virtual presence, we ask ourselves why we do what we do at Tweetspeak. In many of those conversations, we come back to events like yesterday, Random Acts of Poetry Day. We talk often about the ways in which “poetry can be loved, created, and encountered in ordinary life,” and how one of those ways is to “paint it” in the public square. To bring poetry, in a variety of shapes and sizes and forms, to where people are. Where they live, and work, and play.

We created Random Acts of Poetry Day as just such a way. It is nothing, if not accessible. A piece of chalk and a sidewalk to stand on. A pack of Post-It Notes and a pen. A poem printed out or even committed to memory, where not even lack of electricity can keep it from poking up its head into a place where people are.

I spent Random Acts of Poetry Day teaching a class of claim adjusters, helping to prepare them for the vital, ongoing work being done after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. To start the class, I read a poem by William Stafford, “A Ritual To Read to Each Other,” reminding us of the things we must hold onto in these challenging days when Maria followed Irma, crashing into Puerto Rico; when Nate is knocking at the door of the Gulf Coast; when trauma upon trauma befell Las Vegas; when myriad other uncertainties — great and small — surround us in the world, in a nation, in our own homes, and reminding us each to hold to the other elephant’s tail, “lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the / dark.”

Poetry can be such a way of bringing even the smallest of delights, if one will follow the impulse, on some days a random one, to help it find its way with simple tools into the public square and the lives of the folks around us. Here are some delightful Random Acts of Poetry we saw this week:

The founder of Left2Write spent the day in Washington Square Park with Post-Its and prompts in a Mason jar and “covered the blank spaces with beautiful poetry.”

I have a ridiculous smile on my face. But let me tell you why: today I ran around Washington Square Park with post-it’s and markers and prompts in a mason jar—and I asked so many strangers to celebrate Random Acts of Poetry Day with me! And they said yes. We talked about Left2Write Inc. and how excited we are to go into schools, we talked about the benefits of creative writing programs, ate “brain food”/candy and covered the blank spaces with beautiful poetry! Today we saw the magic that begins when people are left, inspiration, to write. And I am so proud of what this program can do, grateful for everyone who shared a poem with us, and lucky to be surrounded by people who support the dream. #left2write #left2writeinc #raopoetryday #randomactsofpoetry

A post shared by m e l i s s a (@littlebitofcinnamon) on Oct 4, 2017 at 6:47pm PDT

At Hyde Street Books, William Carlos Williams was apologizing (again) for the infamous Plum Incident:

I love @57thstreetbooks and I love poetry and I love Hyde Park. #raopoetryday Hurray!

A post shared by April Gutmann (@aparticular) on Oct 3, 2017 at 7:03am PDT

Laura Brown also took poetry to school, reading a Tom Wayman poem to her class:

I read "Did I Miss Anything?" by Tom Wayman to my students today. #raopoetryday (See the whole poem at the Poetry 180 website.)

A post shared by Notes From an Urban Cabin (@notes_from_an_urban_cabin) on Oct 4, 2017 at 4:11pm PDT

Matthew Kreider shared bagels in Winnipeg:

A windy day in #Winnipeg. And this park bench, a few steps down from the neighbourhood bakery, felt quite bagel-y. 🙂 #raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/Z9gThcpz1O

— Matthew Kreider (@matthew_kreider) October 4, 2017

Two chalked sidewalks diverged in the Ryle High School parking lot:

#raopoetryday @Ryle_HS #robertfrost pic.twitter.com/eMTxY89aHE

— Reganne Hanus (@TARDISTIME91011) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday @MedisaKucuk pic.twitter.com/8eyDCtQPAv

— Jordan Lynn (@Jordiania) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday #rupikaur I wrote my favorite line from one of my favorite poems outside my school today!! 🌻🌻 pic.twitter.com/bdDvkbQZj6

— Maggie (@maggiepreston16) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/dKie7UVSYH

— Megan Bine (@binee413) October 4, 2017

More vital poetry on the sidewalks:

🙂#RandomActsofPoetry #raopoetryday @savannxhb pic.twitter.com/aYK937m9TE

— Aspeyn 🎃👻 (@AspeynLanghals) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/bKm4Risujz

— Alex Grayson (@kyalexg) October 4, 2017

The Dreams of the Dreamer #raopoetryday
(hard to see but who’s counting) pic.twitter.com/XIJq1sNQHL

— spooky will (@Will_the_Howes) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday #randomactsofpoetry im sorry my handwriting is bad sylvia ily pic.twitter.com/Zp4BSNFYNj

— HEEEEERES JONNY™ (@ZKeeperOfTime) October 4, 2017

It seems we’ll never celebrate poetry in these parts without inviting the chickens:

We have a few chickens who might be up for the job. 😉 #raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/CfqymfAJOS

— tspoetry (@tspoetry) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/opQNQLxrZj

— we love you mr man (@crumm123) October 5, 2017

Never let it be said that 7th Grade Poetry is for chickens:

#7GP was delighted to share winning #7thGrade students' poems w/ #StLouis Public Information Officer Catherine Smentkowski on #raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/6PWgFuAML2

— 7th Grade Poetry Fnd (@7thgradepoetry) October 5, 2017

#7GP gifted winning #7thGrade students' poems to Gary Stoff & his staff at the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners #raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/Kp9attPO4P

— 7th Grade Poetry Fnd (@7thgradepoetry) October 5, 2017

Today is #RandomActsOfPoetry Day~#7GP gifted 7th graders' poems to @USOMissouri to share w/ their guests~#raopoetryday #StudentPoetryMatters pic.twitter.com/ec0D3tRNeh

— 7th Grade Poetry Fnd (@7thgradepoetry) October 4, 2017

Even groceries need poetry (we’re not sure if Sandra bought chicken):

Getting ready to scatter a little poetry in the grocery aisles. @tspoetry #raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/VPMCgMwYp0

— SandraHeskaKing (@SandraHeskaKing) October 4, 2017

Then there were the “poetry-ed” from Highland Forest Elementary Library:

I got “poetry-ed”! #hfsoars #randomactsofpoetryday @HFEaglesNestLib @hfelem pic.twitter.com/IY4whtvv7P

— Priscilla Garcia (@PrisTG) October 5, 2017

What a beautiful surprise today! Thank you @HFEaglesNestLib 💜🤓📚#mylibrarianrocks #hfsoars #RandomActsOfPoetryDay pic.twitter.com/zVoNpIsXp8

— Deidra Carnes (@mrscarnesreads) October 5, 2017

More people poetry-ed for #RandomActsofPoetryDay #hfsoars pic.twitter.com/jZ4vbC7JNa

— Mariya Ortiz (@HFEaglesNestLib) October 4, 2017

#RandomActsOfPoetryDay #hfsoars pic.twitter.com/vtRZRZkmiY

— Samantha White (@samanthawhite02) October 4, 2017

And the buttoned!

#randomactsofpoetry #randomactsofpoetryday #miamiartscharter pic.twitter.com/p1QWMHVsCY

— Serena L. (@ahlohasl) October 4, 2017

#randomactsofpoetry day 2017. Pins by #miamiartscharter students. @Kavetchnik @EDayPoems pic.twitter.com/HflardbrV3

— Ariel Lewis (@theariellewis) October 4, 2017

Happy #RandomActsofPoetry Day! #buttons #poetryfashion #madebykids #miamiartscharterschool @theariellewis @EDayPoems pic.twitter.com/LJoBjxJOBc

— Jen Karetnick (@Kavetchnik) October 4, 2017

Random Acts of poetry made it to Malaysia:

More poetry, less violence #streetpoetry #streetart #freedomofexpression #poetryisnotdead #raopoetryday #malaysia pic.twitter.com/mj4X4r7cH4

— Alyson G (@alyson_goussens) October 3, 2017

And we’ll always, always be able to count on Red Brick Poetry to go the extra mile in bringing poetry to the public square, even bringing the idea their children’s school:

#raopoetryday is being celebrated by Red Brick Poetry. Random Acts of Poetry were placed on cars up and down my street. pic.twitter.com/8OJH2eC6U4

— Red Brick Poetry (@BrickPoetry) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday is being celebrated by Red Brick. Got my kids school to let me chalk poems & they are hanging poems all over the school. pic.twitter.com/4wU1Rv6wwq

— Red Brick Poetry (@BrickPoetry) October 4, 2017

#raopoetryday is being celebrated by Red Brick. Got my kids school to let me chalk poems & they are hanging poems all over the school. pic.twitter.com/M7LaD5vjIl

— Red Brick Poetry (@BrickPoetry) October 4, 2017

What did you do to celebrate Random Acts of Poetry? These might be the sort of festivities you could (ahem) randomly celebrate on other days throughout the year.

Featured photo by Patricia Bier. Creative Commons License via Flickr.

How to Write a Poem 283 high How to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.

“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland

Buy How to Write a Poem Now!

 

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Will Willingham
Will Willingham
Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.
Will Willingham
Latest posts by Will Willingham (see all)
  • Earth Song Poem Featured on The Slowdown!—Birds in Home Depot - February 7, 2023
  • The Rapping in the Attic—Happy Holidays Fun Video! - December 21, 2022
  • Video: Earth Song: A Nature Poems Experience—Enchanting! - December 6, 2022

Filed Under: Blog, random acts of poetry

Try Every Day Poems...

About Will Willingham

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.

Comments

  1. Donna Falcone says

    October 6, 2017 at 11:16 am

    Ha! Wow this was fun! Yes, we sure needed a little poetry this week, didn’t we? Thanks for this.

    Reply
  2. Sandra Heska King says

    October 6, 2017 at 11:33 am

    ‘ . . . reminding us each to hold to the other elephant’s tail, “lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the / dark.’ ”

    Yes we needed this.

    And I did not buy chicken. But I bought 2 bags of M&Ms cuz BOGO. And I deserved them after dodging produce stockers and shoppers and meat men to tuck a little randomness among the coolers and the shelves.

    Reply
    • Bethany says

      October 6, 2017 at 12:27 pm

      Clandestine poetry-infuser. 🙂

      Reply
      • Sandra Heska King says

        October 6, 2017 at 1:44 pm

        LOL!

        Reply
  3. Maureen says

    October 6, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    It’s wonderful to see how Random Acts has caught on.

    Reply
  4. L.L. Barkat says

    October 6, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    I love the buttons especially. And so many chalked poems.

    Washington Square Park?! Soooo cool. That makes me happy, too. And the poetry-ed people. And, and, and…

    Each of these acts of poetic kindness are such a welcome sight.

    Reply
  5. Will Willingham says

    October 7, 2017 at 9:59 am

    I love those buttons too. Especially all together like that.

    Reply
  6. Laurie Klein says

    October 14, 2017 at 11:29 am

    Makes an old gal feel almost giddy, witnessing all the love and inventiveness and play corralled here (thanks LW!).

    Here’s to more contagious poetry!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our June Menu

Patron Love

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world poetic.

The Graphic Novel

"Stunning, heartbreaking, and relevant illustrations"

Callie Feyen, teacher

read a summary of The Yellow Wallpaper

meet The Yellow Wallpaper characters

How to Write Poetry

Your Comments

  • Glynn on Poets and Poems: Patricia Clark and “O Lucky Day”
  • Patricia Clark on Poets and Poems: Patricia Clark and “O Lucky Day”
  • Bethany on Collage: Unwrapping Gifts from the Quiet
  • L.L. Barkat on Collage: Unwrapping Gifts from the Quiet

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • A Blessing for Writers
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions
  • • The Write to Poetry

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Book Club
  • • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • 50 States Projects
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Edgar Allan Poe Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2025 Tweetspeak Poetry · FAQ, Disclosure & Privacy Policy