Today is the 22nd National Poetry Day and I marked it by running a poetry appreciation in a North Tyneside park.

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Northumberland Park, nestled between North Shields and Tynemouth, is a glorious mix of Victorian elegance and 21st century urban open space. I love it and jumped at the chance of running a two hour poetry appreciation session in the room next to the cafe.

Five of the eleven attendees were Poetry with Friends regulars and the two hour session followed the same format as our popular PWF get togethers on Tuesday evenings and Thursday mornings.

This year’s theme for National Poetry Day is “messages” and we kept that in mind as we shared our own poems as well as work by Rudyard Kipling, Mary Oliver, Martin Figuera, Carol Ann Duffy, Walter de la Mare, Maya Angelou and more.

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Poetry with Friends stalwart, Ken asked what message could we get out of the session. We were undecided but I think it’s fair to say we covered life, the universe and almost everything in our time together. We laughed a great deal too. And enjoyed the October sun in our break.

Thanks to Northumberland Park’s ranger and attendees for making today so enjoyable.

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