In honor of National Poetry Month, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Newtown Poet Laureate Lisa Schwartz will be sharing some of her favorite works by local poets each week this month. The Bee has asked her to begin with one of her own works, of course, considering the resident was given the honor of being named the town's first official poet laureate last fall.The Newtown Bee on March 24 to talk about her role as a representative of the arts, her background, and what she has planned for National Poetry Month.

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"Risk A Verse," in which a number of residents and a few people who work in town have been invited to read their favorite poem out loud to the community.

Ms Schwartz was introduced by First Selectman Pat Llodra during the opening ceremonies of the 2015 Newtown Arts Festival. At the time, Ms Schwartz was one of eight poets laureate in the state. Following her formal introduction that Saturday morning, Ms Schwartz read "Homage To Art," a poem she had crafted for the arts festival.

"I like to say I am an 'Occasional Poet,' in the sense that I enjoy writing for specific occasions," Ms Schwartz said. She sat down with

"I have been called on to create poems for bar mitzvahs, birthdays, weddings, even a PhD celebration," she said, laughing. "I enjoy rhyming, and trying to write with a sense of humor."

Ms Schwartz finds it easier, she said, to write when she has a topic or occasion, and definitely when she it looking at a deadline.

"If I have to write something, I'll sit down and concentrate," she said. Working like that is more difficult than creating verse for what she calls "random inspiration." Once she gets going, however, she enjoys herself, much like a musician will while composing.

"There is just this divine pleasure I get from writing," she said. "It's more visible when a musician is working, because their finished product is then heard. But I get the same feeling."

For this former Board of Education vice chairman and current K-6 Newtown substitute teacher ("I try to sneak poetry in every once in a while, without telling them," she said with a smile), poetry has always been part of her life.

"I have always loved poetry," she continued last week. "Even as a little kid, I very frequently expressed myself in poetry."

Since the arts festival, Ms Schwartz has participated in additional events in her role as Newtown Poet Laureate.

In October, she participated in a reading event with 11 other poets laureate from other Connecticut towns and cities at Cheney Hall in Manchester.

"We were the 'opening voice' for Richard Blanco, the 2012 inaugural poet for President Obama," she said. "It was my first public event outside of my hometown, the first one representing Newtown on a much larger scale."

The following month she was one of the guests in Sophfronia Scott's inaugural offering of the Connecticut Authors series at C.H. Booth Library.

"I enjoy that, despite my nerves," she admitted. The November 8 event was "particularly daunting," said Ms Schwartz, who found herself among four other writers, all of whom focus on fiction.

Another experience that was initially daunting, she said, was her next public appearance. In February she was one of the guests at Flagpole Radio Café when the popular variety returned to Edmond Town Hall for its seventh season. The show had been on hiatus for about a year, and Producer Martin Blanco wanted a big return. In addition to inviting Phil Bowler & Friends as the featured performers, he also reached out to Ms Schwartz.

"The show has a pretty standard format, with a blend of spoken word - usually comedy - and music," Mr Blanco said March 29. "From time to time we have read poems as part of the show, or talked with some of the guest artists in depth, and I thought this was an occasion to mix it up a little bit again."

A fan of having a town poet laureate, Mr Blanco also felt that Flagpole Radio Café, with plenty of in-town jokes each show, would be "a nice arena for a poet laureate to present something."

Mr Blanco and other show organizers offered Ms Schwartz the option of selecting something already prepared, or writing something for the occasion.

Ms Schwartz opted for the latter.

"I tried to craft a poem for the show itself, but it turned into a celebration of Newtown's flagpole," she said of the work, "Flagpole Radio Cafe (With an Emphasis on Flagpole)." The finished piece was both a tribute to the variety show "and to pay homage to Newtown's favorite icon, the flagpole," she said. See the poem in its entirety below.

"It was a great, great audience," she said of Flagpole Radio Café. "It was my first time doing poetry within a comedy setting, and the audience was just wonderful. They really embraced the poetry."

Last month she served as a performance judge for Poetry Out Loud, where she evaluated student recitations for the Regional Semifinalists for Connecticut.

"It was fun to see kids take an interest in poetry," she said. "These kids were extraordinary, too. We were all blown away.

"Each of them was really outstanding," she added. "It was really hard to judge."

The next public event Lisa Schwartz has a hand in will be taking place on Sunday, April 3, at Newtown Meeting House. She and fellow Newtown resident Tracy Van Buskirk are organizing and will co-host Risk-A-Verse.

Nearly two dozen people will be reading on Sunday afternoon. Ms Schwartz expects the program will run approximately 90 minutes.

"The readers were asked to limit themselves to two minutes, although some will clearly go over that time limit," she said, having seen the selections of each reader. "Others will definitely be much quicker, though, so we expect it will all even out."

A reception will follow the readings. Reservations are not being taken for the 2 pm event, but additional information is available by calling Ms Schwartz (203-733-4190) or Ms Van Buskirk (203-731-1809).

Newtown's Poet Laureate will be a guest of "A Night of Poetry" on Friday, April 15, beginning at 7 pm, at Byrd's Books, 126 Greenwood Avenue in Bethel. Ms Schwartz will be one of five guests that evening.

The following weekend, on April 23, she has been invited to read an arts poem — something created for the occasion — for the opening reception of The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown's Spring Juried Arts Show opening reception.

"I'm really excited about this," she said. "I love the idea that it's going to be a poem for another type of arts. Part of my job is to promote the arts."

Ms Schwartz's time as Newtown Poet Laureate will be over at the end of August 2018.

"Three years is a good amount of time to establish a job," she said.

Meanwhile, she has already enjoyed the time she has put into the position.

"To be acknowledged for what you do for a passion is the biggest honor you can ask for," she said. "And to do this in a town I love, and to be the first one? It's a crowning glory. I cannot stress how honored I am to be doing this."

This poem was written by Newtown Poet Laureate Lisa Schwartz as a tribute to Flagpole Radio Café.

Flagpole Radio Café

(With an Emphasis On Flagpole)

Edmond Town Hall

Isn't a café at all,

And radios? I see not a one.

But Flagpoles you say?

Well, here we've got sway,

For ours is second to none.

It's upstanding! Authentic!

(Some say too centric);

Who cares about traffic and flow?

You learn to defy it

You never stand by it

Better to bask in its glow.

Isn't it odd,

This flagpole facade-

This wavering source of contention?

Remove it! Revere it!

Don't even go near it!

Maybe it's time for redemption.

From the belly of town

It wields its renown,

Its fate ever up in the air;

Love it or hate it

We'll always debate it

But please, can we leave it there?

Let it stand as it does

Let it be just because

It's hip and cheeky and glorious;

It's a matter of pride

(All collisions aside)

Our flagpole is simply notorious.

Now enough of my chatter

Let's return to the matter

Here in this so-called "café"

Where humor and wit

Meet spoofery and skit

And music takes us away.

Let's exalt in some whacky!

Give in to the tacky!

Do it for the sake of Old Glory;

For our motive tonight

Is unflagging delight

In this high-flying "Radio" story.