On April 26th, schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, and other venues will ring loud with open readings of poems from pockets on PIYP day or <strong>Poem in Your Pocket</strong>  <strong>Day</strong>. The idea is simple:

• Select a poem you love during National Poetry Month
• Print or write it out
• Carry it with you and share with co-workers, family, and friends
• Or tweet about your selection on Twitter with the hashtag #pocketpoem.

If you can’t think of a poem to carry, you can click <a href="http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/409" target="_blank">here</a> to download one or simply enjoy the funny, the serious, and the unusual choices when you click on one of the pockets pictured on the page.

At estate sales I often find books of poetry or handwritten poems in pockets, in desk drawers, framed and displayed, and any number of other places. My favorite discovery happened closer to home when my mother-in-love passed away. We found this poem glued in her Bible and another copy of the same poem in her husband’s.
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Should You Go First</strong>
By Albert Kennedy "Rosey" Rowswell</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Should you go first and I remain,</em>
<em>To walk the road alone,</em>
<em>I'll live in memory's garden, dear,</em>
<em>With happy days we've known.</em>
<em>In Spring I'll wait for roses red,</em>
<em>When fades the lilac blue,</em>
<em>In early Fall when brown leaves call</em>
<em>I'll catch a glimpse of you.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Should you go first and I remain,</em>
<em>For battles to be fought,</em>
<em>Each thing you've touched along the way</em>
<em>Will be a hallowed spot.</em>
<em>I'll hear your voice, I'll see your smile,</em>
<em>Though blindly I may grope,</em>
<em>The memory of your helping hand</em>
<em>Will buoy me on with hope.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Should you go first and I remain,</em>
<em>To finish with the scroll,</em>
<em>No length 'ning shadows shall creep in</em>
<em>To make this life seem droll.</em>
<em>We've known so much of happiness,</em>
<em>We've had our cup of joy,</em>
<em>And memory is one gift of God</em>
<em>That death cannot destroy.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Should you go first and I remain,</em>
<em>One thing I'd have you do:</em>
<em>Walk slowly down that long, lone path,</em>
<em>For soon I'll follow you.</em>
<em>I'll want to know each step you take</em>
<em>That I may walk the same,</em>
<em>For some day down that lonely road</em>
<em>You'll hear me call your name.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Rosey_Rowswell" target="_blank">Rosey Rowswell</a> wasn’t a Longfellow or Edgar Allen Poe. In fact, his real job was a broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates for 19 seasons (1936-54), but he did write <a href="http://amzn.to/IPUYjR" target="_blank">books</a> of humor and poetry. And, I love this touching poem.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> More, I love the romantic sentiment of finding a copy in both Bibles. My husband’s parents were married for fifty-nine years before Otho passed away. I’ll guarantee you when Rose went to glory five years later she called Otho’s name and met him on that path.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>Will you join us and share your favorite poem in a comment? We'll pretend to hear your voice.</strong></p>