April is Poetry Month

Poems play a very important part in all of the ceremonies we celebrants perform.

A poem that has been carefully selected, can add a depth to your ceremony. A great poem can add a touch of humour, a gentle romantic touch, a spiritual tone or a sense of solemn respect, and so much more.

 It can express a parent’s love for their child at a baby naming, a couple’s love and commitment in a wedding ceremony or renewal of vows, and showcase a life in a funeral ceremony.

The big question is, how do you selection poems.



One really workable suggestion is to build up a collection of poems to offer your clients, and to add to the collection all of the time to keep your selections fresh and appealing.

I keep mine in different folders to make it easier to pick the best poem for the ceremony: modern love poems, classic love poems, naming poems, funeral poems, etc., and make sure that you follow the copyright laws, and always, always, always acknowledge the poet.


Fortunately, there are lots of tools online to help.

Here are just three wedding poem lists after a quick Google search:

• The Poetry Foundation offers a small list that covers classical and offbeat poems.
  
  www.poetryfoundation.org
  
  
• Hitched has highlighted a number of wonderful poems to select from.
  
  www.hitched.com.au
  
  
• A Practical Wedding lists these “non-cheesy” poems. 
  
  apracticalwedding.com

And three funeral poetry guides :

• FamilyFriendPoems , a website dedicated to Poetry, has a great section on Funeral poetry.
  
  www.familyfriendpoems.com
  
  
• FuneralHelper has a collection of Non Religious Poetry.
  
  www.funeralhelper.org
  
  
• LastingPost has a vast number of poems and readings.
  
  www.lastingpost.com

Naming day poems are always very personal to the parents, and often the parents have researched and selected the poem for themselves.

• PoemSource is a great place to start.
  
  www.poemsource.com

On the Forum Board on our TCN website, there is a New Forum Topic for you as TCN members to put links to your favourite poems.

So, can you hop online, find your favourite poem and add the link to this Forum, and we will end up with a great resource section of poetry for all occasions.