By Khalida Sarwari
Santa Clara County’s poet laureate is encouraging residents to participate in an exercise to create the first Santa Clara County poem in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Nils Peterson, a professor at San Jose State University, is asking residents young and old to try to capture the essence of the area in a line between nine and 13 syllables long.
“If you begin each day with the intention of writing a line of poetry, you will be in the world differently,” Peterson said. “Try it. I think you’ll find it fun and rewarding.”
Peterson will create a word collage composed of 100 lines that showcases the spirit of Santa Clara County.
Participants can send their line to Peterson through May 3 at poet.laureate@ceo.sccgov.org or mail to Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, Office of Public Affairs, County of Santa Clara, 11th Floor East Wing, 70 West Hedding St., San Jose CA, 95110.