The shortest poem, titled “Fleas.” “Adam had ‘em.” And, bow.

First poem I memorized: “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer, recited in happy sing-song in the second-grade. The next year, we had to recite “The Ballad of a Mother’s Heart” by Jose La Villa Tierra, with its unforgettable scene of a son tearing his mother’s heart to prove his love to a maiden. (One classmate keened and wailed in her rendition. I was mildly traumatized.)

Poets, from Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson to Shel Silverstein and Mary Oliver and Ursula K. Le Guin, have been clear-eyed, softhearted, big-minded, wow-sayers, saving graces in my life, able to point to a feeling or a moment, and yes, a tree, and shine a light on and even break the ice in our human hearts. They find the poetry in, well, everything.

So let’s celebrate Lester Graves Lennon, Altadena Poet Laureate Editor in Chief, and Sehba Sarwar, Poet Laureate for Community Affairs, at their selection as two of 23 poets laureate awarded $50,000 fellowships from the Academy of American Poets.

Announced on July 31, the fellowships recognize poets laureate for their literary excellence. It will also fund community projects that put poetry at the center of individual and collective experiences.

The academy will also provide more than $95,000 in matching grants to 21 local nonprofits collaborating with the fellows.

An investment banker, Lennon is poetry editor of “Rosebud” magazine and on the board of the Community of Writers. He is the author of “Lynchings: Postcards from America” “My Father Was a Poet” and “The Upward Curve of Earth and Heavens.” He told his wife of 35 years that his appointment as Altadena poet laureate is his greatest point of pride as a poet, a high point in his obituary.

“This recognition by the Academy of American Poets is not far behind but would have not been possible if I did not have the position,” Lennon said. “The support of the Altadena Library District was critical. Our community is so fortunate to have the library under the exceptional leadership of Nikki Winslow, district director, at the heart of our cultural life.”

That the main library survived the fire intact allows it to serve as one of the beacons for recovery and rebuilding, he added.

“I see our recovery as slow but observable. In our area (north of Altadena Drive, east of Lake) some of our neighbors have already returned. We hope to return to our home in September. Others have begun the planning process and some have decided it is best to move permanently.  God bless them all, these are difficult decisions.”

Sarwar wrote the novel “Black Wings” in 2019 and her short stories have been anthologized by Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and HarperCollins India. She is the recipient of honors from a number of organizations, including Los Angeles’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Pasadena’s Cultural Affairs Division, Mid-America Arts Alliance, and Houston Arts Alliance. Sarwar trains youth leaders in Pasadena and Altadena.

Their community project is “After the Fires: Healing from Histories,” a poetry initiative that hopes to provide space for the Altadena and Pasadena community to document history and heal from the devastation caused by the Eaton Fire.

They will work in collaboration with the library district and local arts spaces to offer monthly workshops and readings that will culminate in a publication and a daylong festival. Participation of Altadena residents, especially those who experienced displacement and/or loss as a result of the fires, will be prioritized. Lennon and Sarwar will build upon the work started by past poets laureate who have been serving the community since 2006.

“The Academy of American Poets is jazzed to champion wide-ranging poetry projects produced by poets laureate in big cities and small towns alike—all across the country—spanning poetry festivals, anthologies, nooks, and cookbooks to toll-free poetry hotlines, prison workshops, public beach readings, and billboards,” said Tess O’Dwyer, board chair of the academy. “At a time when more readers are turning to poetry to make sense of the world around us, American poets are beacons of free expression, cultural insight, and civic engagement.”

California showed up in force in this year’s class. Of the 23 honorees, six are from the Golden State. Aside from Lennon and Sarwar, they include Kweku Abimbola from El Segundo; Jen Cheng from West Hollywood; Nancy Miller Gomez from Santa Cruz; and Raffi Jones Wartanian from Glendale.

Lennon and Sarwar will launch the online edition of the 2025 Poetry Anthology on Sept. 12, at the Altadena Library. The anthology is divided into two parts: the first consisting of poems submitted before the Eaton fire, and the second, poems submitted in response to the blaze. Some of the contributors will read their work and an open mike is planned too.

The Academy of American Poets, at poets.org, offers a “Poem a Day” digital service, which features new work by today’s poets. I signed up, if only to marvel at the creative work therein (and knowing full well I probably won’t understand a good number). But I will be changed by them, even just a little bit. What power, this knowing. And so, thank you.