The thing about pillows, I think, is that they are very quiet. They’re soft and filled with fluff or feathers, the kinds of things people think of when they want to hush sounds. It doesn’t make any noise when your head drops onto your pillow. If you are giggling late at night when your parents want you to be sleeping, it’s handy to have a pillow nearby so you can bury your face in it to absorb the sound. Even a pillow fight doesn’t make that much noise. At least the pillow part doesn’t. (Of course, in a good fight, the shrieking and laughing makes up for that.)
So it’s not surprising when Poem On Your Pillow Day comes to us quietly, without a lot of fanfare, but proves a quiet delight to those who participate it in, or better yet, who are the beneficiaries of the day’s gifts. To that end, Twitter (which is not a quiet place at all, with or without pillows) alerted us to a number of Poem On Your Pillow Day celebrations happening around the world.
In Prague, guests of the Panorama Hotel were treated to a scroll imprinted with the poem “May” on their pillows.
Today we are celebrating “Poem on your pillow day” in Panorama Hotel Prague. All guests who are in our hotel today will find the scroll with famous poem May on their pillow. Enjoy this great day! #panoramahotelprague #poemonyourpillowday pic.twitter.com/z3zfMi3bgb
— Alexandra Hronková (@Lexie0605) May 1, 2018
Not to be outdone, Maldron Hotel in Belfast wrote a poem to leave on their guests’ pillows.
It’s Poem on your Pillow Day! #MayDay #MaldronHotels pic.twitter.com/CPsz7V9ieR
— Maldron Hotel Belfast City (@MaldronBelfast) May 1, 2018
Becca of Pretty Piney even made her own pillows featuring the beloved Shel Silverstein and Winnie the Pooh.
Poem on Your Pillow Day, Taken Literally https://t.co/xh6bwDvuhm pic.twitter.com/wG0cJtjMZw
— Pretty Piney (@prettypiney) May 1, 2018
New Zealand poet Helen Griffiths not only made pillows, but contacted local hotels who participated with their guests for the day, including the Devon.
Happy “Poem on your Pillow Day”!
How cool is this!
A big thanks to Helen Griffiths and the other local talented poets from Pop Up Poetry Taranaki.
Check out one of Helen’s gems.
Fabulous!… https://t.co/dLHATGBQ2p— The Devon Hotel (@TheDevonHotel) April 30, 2018
And thanks to AL Poet Laureate, we also found out about this great group of high school students at Lenoir-Rhyne who set up shop to write poems for Poem On Your Pillow Day.
Students at Lenoir-Rhyne in NC, USA are writing poems for #poemonyourpillow day! #WeAreLR #randomactofpoetry #streetpoetry pic.twitter.com/YCrBQ0DZFM
— ALPoetLaureate (@ALPoetLaureate) May 1, 2018
Missed the day? Might we suggest you (quietly) slip a little poem onto a loved one’s pillow tonight before bed? Kids especially love this sort of treat that doesn’t mean they have to go brush their teeth again. But choose your poem carefully, so as not to inspire a late night, sonnet-filled pillow fight.
Photo by Takashi .M, Creative Commons license via Flickr.
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Maureen says
What fun that the hotels got involved!
Bethany R. says
I wonder how many guests and hospitality professionals read poetry on Tuesday. Love this!
Katie says
SO love the Winnie the Pooh Pillow!
Just inspired to write this silly verse:
Pillow, pillow
on my bed,
you are fluffy, full of thread
in the morning when I wake,
what a number you’ve done on my head!