Happy National Poetry Month! Here's Assignment #3...

The Brian Lehrer Show | Apr 20, 2016

April is National Poetry Month! Throughout the month, we're hosting a series of conversations and on-air classes with local poets Tracey K. Smith, Gregory Pardlo, Vijay Seshadri, and more.

Here's your assignment this week, from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sharon Olds:

Write a short poem (16 lines or fewer) using (among others!) the words acid, anise seed, butter, cherish, grisly, margarine, mother, pearl, sing, and tell.

That's it. A short poem that incorporates the vocabulary list above. Drop your submission in the comments below!

There's no real deadline for this, but if you submit by Thursday, April 21st, there's a chance Olds will read your poem on the air!

(In case you're curious, here are Assignment #1 and Assignment #2 from earlier this month.)

And you can hear our conversation with Sharon Olds below (she reads several of listener-submissions and one of her own!):

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

One Refugee’s Journey Through ICE Detention

In 2025, ICE began detaining people at immigration hearings, an unprecedented step. The staff writer Jonathan Blitzer shares the story of one detainee whose life was turned upside down.
The New Yorker Radio Hour |

Black and Latino Leaders React to DSA Wins

Jeffery Mays talks about how Black and Latino political leaders feel as members of DSA have gained power in NYC.
The Brian Lehrer Show |

Jewish elected leaders criticize Mamdani’s rhetoric after Upper West Side stabbings

Authorities charged the suspect, Raul Morales, with hate crimes on Friday.
Gothamist |

Cat Cohen's New Comedy Musical 'Broad Strokes'

All Of It with Alison Stewart |
YOU ARE ONLINE