You Still Have Time: Rediscover Your Poetic Impulses

Today (April 30) marks the end of National Poetry Month--not just in New York, but also across the country. You still have time, however, to catch a few poetry-related events throughout the city in the next few days.
For starters, check out “How Does a Bird Imagine? What Does a Tree Know?” on May 1 with famed children’s poet Richard Lewis at Poet’s House (10 River Terrace; 212 431-7920.) Lewis is the author of such books “All Of You Was Singing,” which is based on an Aztec myth.
The performance art and writing workshop is offered in conjunction with an exhibition, and offers a springtime parade of hats. Lewis is also offering a workshop for adults at Poet’s House tomorrow entitled “It’s About Nature: Children’s Learning and the Poetic Experience”; he will focus on creating poetic spaces,
For the poetry-loving AND the adventurous, you can still catch “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 poems in 60 Minutes” at the Kraine Theater at 85 East 4th Street (Call 212-352-30101 for ticket information). Offered tonight and tomorrow night, the performance is a poetry-themed version of the play, with performances by the New York Neo-Futurists.
If you happen to be in Brooklyn tonight, wander over to Goodbye Blue Monday (1087 Broadway; 718-453-6343) and catch six poets performing.
For more information about poetry events throughout the year, check out the Poets House website at poets.org.
And you can always stop by your local pubic library in New York--poetry books are always there for the reading.

Free Verse: Poets House Moves to Battery Park City

Maybe you haven’t picked up a book of poetry in a couple of years, or your last memory of trying to compose a poem was writing a Valentine’s Day limerick to your fourth-grade crush. Well, you can change all that, because as of last week, New York’s Poets House has a bigger, better, splashier new home in Battery Park City. (Ten River Terrace; 212 421-7920)
The 50,000 volume library and literary center, which was founded by poet Stanley Kunitz and arts administrator Elizabeth Kray in 1985, just re-opened in a new space by the water. The 11,000 square-foot space offers poetry lovers more than twice the area of the former Soho second-floor loft. It features a Children’s Room; multimedia archive; Reading Room (added bonus: fantastic views of the Hudson River); and an exhibition space.
The center offers more than 200 public programs a year, including workshops, lectures and readings; it has a poetry collection that includes books, journals, chapbooks and digital media. It’s a delightful resource for anyone interested in poetry, and wonderful memorabilia includes handmade Christmas cards by Robert Frost and a first edition of Dylan Thomas’ “A Child's Christmas in Wales.”
The center has been granted rent-free use of the space for the next 60 years.