Poetry goes beyond a national declaration.
The American Reporter Copyright 1999 Joe Shea. All Rights Reserved. Local poets arrange special readings during the month and some publishers time the release of key books of poetry to coincide with National Poetry Month. Copies were distributed at local post offices on April 15, which, depending on one's interpretive stance, could be defined as cosmic irony or sarcasm. W.H. Auden, who died in 1973, was one of the twentieth century's most astute observers and critics of modernity, and a fine poet.