I think that I shall never see …

There are some poems that are remembered from childhood because of their eloquent simplicity.

… a poem as lovely as a tree.

This poem, by Joyce Kilmer, ends as succinctly as it started:

Poems are made by fools like me,/But only God can make a tree.

Beauty in words doesn’t have to be complicated, but the best poets are able to take the most complex and deepest of emotions, lay them on the page without clutter, and take one’s breath away. That skill, harder than it looks, deserves some appreciation, and April is here to do it.

Thanks to local novelist and writing teacher Molly Cook, poetry is given its celebratory due during National Poetry Month at an “Evening of Poetry with Lorraine Healy and Friends,” from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21 at the Coupeville Library.

Joining the South End poet are Patricia Hawley of Oak Harbor and Erik Christensen of Coupeville. All three poets have impressive artistic credentials.

Healy has won the prestigious Hackney Prize, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and in 2010, was the winner of the Patricia Bibby First Book Award for her collection, “The Habit of Buenos Aires.”

The Freeland resident was born and raised in Argentina, of Irish and Italian descent, which is reflected in her book. She also excels at photography, making photos that are as poetic as anything she has written. She is currently at work on a long photographic series of the old cafés of Buenos Aires and old diners in anywhere U.S.A.

But it is her poetry that is celebrated this month, and “The Habit of Buenos Aires” offers some of her most evocative art, such as her poem, “Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires,” about the mothers who meet in the center of Buenos Aires every Thursday in protest for the more than 9,000 children who were abducted during Argentina’s “Dirty War” of 1976-83. The final stanza reads:

A breath before rush hour/they unchain their arms, the kerchiefs/and the placards disappear,/they join the lines for the buses/and the underground, once again simply/women from the barrios come downtown,/returning home where the old man has/ remembered to water the ferns and start/a pot of white rice for tonight./Home to take a load off, watch the evening/news that never name them anymore,/the obstinate madwomen/who move on/ and on until they/catch up with themselves, around/the obelisk that celebrates some freedom,/corpseless, unsilent, feet aching.

Hawley is a former drama and English teacher who taught at Oak Harbor High School and Skagit Valley College before retiring early to devote more time to writing. It’s paid off.

Hawley was recently named winner of the poetry contest for the prestigious 25th annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.

Christensen teaches at Oak Harbor High School and has been published in “Spirit of Writing 2007” and he was the featured lyricist in the September 1999 edition of the “Victory Review.”

In addition to writing poetry, Christensen is also a musician who has played at the Island County Fair, local coffeehouses, showcases and open mics from Bellingham to Portland, Ore.

He said the question of why he writes is a big one.

“I guess it has something to do with noticing things around you, and wanting to be different,” Christensen said. “Albert Szent-Gyorgyi said, ‘See what everybody else has seen, and think what nobody else has thought.’”

“Also, it’s just fun,” he said.

“An Evening of Poetry” is free and open to all ages.

For more information, call the Coupeville Library at 360-678-4911 or Cook at 360-678-3042.