Every April, in honor of National Poetry Month, we call on our audience (yes, you!) to help us celebrate the art of the verse.

Keeping with NPR tradition, we're asking for your original poems — haikus, couplets, freeform, you name it. This year — our spoken wordsmiths may be pleased to know — we're adding TikTok to the mix.

How to share your poem

On Twitter: Tweet your poem, in 140 characters or less, with the hashtag #NPRpoetry.

On TikTok: Post your poem to your TikTok page using #NPRpoetry. Remember to keep it to no more than 15 seconds and, of course, radio-friendly.

Each week for the rest of the month, a professional poet will join All Things Considered to talk about some of the submissions that caught their eye. We'll continue to update this page with those conversations.

"We're All Poets"

TikTok isn't just for dancing. Ayanna Albertson (@untouchableyann) has found success on the video-sharing platform through her spoken word poetry. She helps us kick off Poetry Month with an original poem and shares her wisdom for budding poets.

"We're all poets," she said. "I don't mean that to minimize the art of poetry, but there is always someone who needs to hear what you have to say."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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