Celebrate Poetry Month With Roberto Germán ~ Christy Mihaly

This April is the 30th anniversary of National Poetry Month, a time to celebrate the important role poetry plays in our lives and well-being. Today GROG is pleased to welcome poet Roberto Germán to share some poetry insights.

Many people assume poets must be "special" people, but Roberto believes that anyone can be a poet. He points out that writing poetry connects us with our innermost emotions and thoughts, and helps us make order of the chaos. That's something we can all use!

Educators

Roberto and his wife Lorena Germán founded and run Multicultural Classroom, which offers schools and other organizations training in social justice and inclusivity. They travel nationwide to bring their programs, workshops, and wisdom to educators and students, seeking to bring a diversity of perspectives to education.

Roberto and Lorena Germán

Poetry Workshops

Roberto also runs poetry workshops in schools. These are designed to help students find their voices through poems. Poetry, Roberto points out, is a powerful tool to help young people tell their stories. Writing poetry helps kids process their experiences and emotions as they develop their identities. He tells students of his own turbulent early years as a Black Dominican-American, the son of immigrants.

In 2023, Roberto published Blue Ink Tears, a bilingual collection of poems interspersed with handwritten notes and photographs.  Roberto wrote the poems over many years, starting when he was still a teen. He tells students that if he could do this, they can, too. His poems explore themes of immigration, race, family, masculinity, love, and loss.

In reading his work to students, Roberto models how poetry helps tap into our emotional truth. He teaches young people to honor vulnerability rather than burying their feelings. He told me he didn't have a mentor to share these lessons when he was growing up, but eventually he realized that writing could be a tool to process his thoughts and feelings. He hopes his poetry workshops help students do the same.

Poems from Blue Ink Tears

I've chosen some shorter selections from Roberto's collection to share today. Enjoy! 

Roberto addresses themes of love ... 

... and immigration, heritage, and metaphorical belonging (also, there's a food thread) ...

... with some haiku exploring themes of history and heritage: 

                                   

For more of Roberto's poetry, you can hear him recite his work here. To see a student reading his own poem after one of Roberto's workshops, check this out. 

Profound thanks to Roberto for sharing.

And Happy Poetry Month to all.