Introduction

Where have all the poets gone? People think that poetry is a challenge, so they just don't bother. Why? It's too hard! I can't rhyme! I can't understand it? I just don't have it in me. Wah! Wah! Wah! Quit you're belly achin' and listen to this:

	You can't order a poem like you order a taco. Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two" and expect it to be handed to you on a shiny plate.
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Wouldn't it be nice? No work. Rhymes on command. Well, nothing worthwhile in life comes that easy! In the poem, "Valentine for Earnest Mann," Naomi Shihab Nye warns that poetry can not be ordered like fast food. She does, however, offer some words of wisdom upon which our challenge is based:

	So I'll tell you a secret instead: poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes, they are sleeping. They are the shadows drifting across our ceilings the moment before we wake up. What we have to do is live in a way that lets us find them.
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Are we all poets? As a poetry practitioner, we will become doctors of observation. Our internship will take us approximately five months to complete. We will explore our living world of poetry using our senses to find poetry in every corner of our world.

With every step we take, we will become poetry practitioners learning about the art of poetry while investigating ourselves, others, and the world around us. You see, poetry just isn't an exercise in writing. It is a life-enhancing learning tool of self discovery. On your journey, be certain to ask yourselves this question, "What can poetry teach me about myself, others, and the world around me?"