Vermont capital springs to life through poetry each April

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Montpelier, Vt. As spring starts to blossom in New England, some Vermont communities come to life with the sites and sounds of written verse.

“These are the honey makers

The maple sap tappers

The pollen gatherers

The elixirs healing the future

from the spirits of the past,” a woman recited from a poem written by Buffy Aakaash, of Marshfield, Vermont, on Saturday during a poetry parade in Montpelier.

Each April, the country’s smallest capital city goes all out to celebrate poetry. Storefronts and restaurant windows in Montpelier are graced with poems written by Vermonters of all ages, poets read their works aloud at events — some with musical accompaniments — and poetry workshops meet to discuss the artform. And this year the Montpelier library hosted a first: a poetry parade.

“We do National Poetry Month better than anybody as far as we can see,” said PoemCity organizer Michelle Singer, the adult programs coordinator for the Kellogg Hubbard Library in the city of about 8,000 residents.

This year, 350 poems written by residents of 60 Vermont towns are on display in downtown windows, and 30 poetry programs were planned.

“It’s a walkable anthology that will stay up for the entire month of April and people just experience poetry as they go about their daily tasks in Montpelier,” she said.

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Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.