It's time to dust off that old leather notebook, grow out your beard and buy a cigar. The poet laureate of all South Bay poet laureates wants your help in crafting a few lines about the Silicon Valley.
Santa Clara County's poet laureate, Nils Peterson, is encouraging residents to participate in an exercise to create the first Santa Clara County poem in celebration of National Poetry Month. Starbucks (are there other coffee shops in the South Bay?) better watch out.
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.
