World Poetry Day is a United Nations celebration on March 21.
Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings.”
UNESCO
The Next World Poetry Day
The next World Poetry Day is Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
World Poetry Day Declaration
UNESCO, the cultural organization of the United Nations, proclaimed March 21 as World Poetry Day in 1999.
Who is Your Favorite Poet?
Mine is the Chilean Nobel Prize-winner Pablo Neruda. Through his words, I came to love the Spanish language before I could speak it.
Deber del poeta (Poet’s Duty)
These are the opening lines of the poem. The translation is my own.
A quien no escucha el mar en este viernes por la mañana
(To whomever is not listening to the sea this Friday morning)
A quien adentro de algo, casa, oficina, fábrica
(to whoever is inside something, a house, an office, a factory)
o mujer o calle o mina o seco calabozo
(a woman, a street, a mine or a dry dungeon)
a éste yo acudo y sin hablar ni ver
(to her/him I go and without speaking or looking)
llego y abro la puerta del encierro
(I come and open the imprisoning door)
y un sin fin se oye vago en la insistencia
(so she/he hears the gentle insistence of infinity)
Pablo Neruda
May you hear the gentle insistence of infinity on UN World Poetry Day.