21 March - World Poetry Day

Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings. Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.

In celebrating World Poetry Day, March 21, UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.

A decision to proclaim 21 March as World Poetry Day was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999.

One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.

Source: United Nations

http://www.un.org/en/events/poetryday/

I'm between celebra, of course, in this manera...

Amar a la extranjera

Those things I felt for you in Spanish

and talked about in English

with my therapist

my cat

and the inhabitants of this Tower of Babel, I just

cannot bring myself to repeat them

anymore

In the language I use on the daily, daily basis

to get jobs, tobacco and cappuccinos.

Inside my tongue

there is a foreign blood

and inside that blood there is still

another foreign blood

- I must say I go from blood to blood

like an international vampire -

Why ask why

I won't ask anymore questions

I'm fed up with getting answers

I won't repeat myself in circles of damn pain

My traveling heart

is learning everything there is to know

about foreign towns

foreign tongues

and silence.

Juvenal Acosta