It’s no secret that when it comes to us modern-day earthlings taking time out of any given axis-spin to engage with art, poetry often gets a “swipe left” in the face of other imaginative offerings that seem a bit...well, easier on the mind’s eye. Generally speaking, art forms such as music, films, novels, and plays tend to feel a bit more "approachable" than your average and far-from-ordinary lines of verse entitled, for example, "The Anecdote of the Jar" (a widely revered and studied poem by Wallace Stevens). Despite the deep emotional, intellectual, and sensorial returns poetry offer us on the investment of our hearts and minds, it can (and often does!) demand a lot from those of us curious, sentient beings who are privileged enough to have access to things like roller coasters, Netflix, cupcakes, puppies, and...let's not kid ourselves...naps!

Still, poems are a form of art we can't help but ceaselessly reach for and rely on as we are also curious dreaming beings. So... How is it that we can feel utterly perplexed in venturing through one poem, yet so at home inside another? Why do we feel double-crossed by one poem’s speaker, while another has us at hello with the title alone? The truth is, the opportunity is always available to pull back the curtain on any poem’s word-wizardry and humanize our interaction with verse by replacing questions like “What does this mean?…Why am I so confused?…Who the freak is speaking here?..."Wait, where was I?” with the singular, more experiential driving query: “Can I have a successful relationship with this poem?”

The answer to this question may be different for each of us as we get to know any given poem, but our shared capacity to call a poem “friend” will always rely on how mindfully we as open-minded, educated readers approach, understand, and engage with the meticulously chosen and crafted actual words on the page.

In this four-part online program, you’ll gain a wide range of skills and insights that will allow you to confidently arrive at your own conclusion as to whether any poem you read holds the potential to be a lifelong soul-companion, casual acquaintance, or respectful (albeit ardent!) mental-swipe to the left. Each week's 90-minute excursion with verse will include a dynamic mini-lecture, and through a fusion of instructive examinations of masterful poems (both celebrated and lesser known), impassioned readings, guided discussions, spotlight lessons on poetic craft, eye-opening videos clips and "handouts," and brief but powerful writing exercises, you'll leave this four-part program empowered with the critical know-how and creative gusto to get to know poems of any size, shape, tone, style, or ultra dubious title— any or all of which just might turn out to be your new best versified friend.

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Here's a teaser of the titles for each week's focus!