There’s a buoyant poignancy within poet Michael Rothenberg’s chirpy children’s poem “Delightful Bird!” Rothenberg — author of a notable body of poetry and founder of Big Bridge Press — is currently Florida State University’s Libraries Poet in Residence. His “fabulous, flittery…sweet singing twittery, feathery bird” shimmers line after line for listeners young and old before concluding with a provoking contemplation.

“That pink-feathered, blue feathered, // green-feathered bird would sing and sing / and always be heard // I hope you don’t think that I am being absurd / but I wished I could be that always heard bird,” recites Rothenberg.

Its relevancy speaks not only to Rothenberg’s involvement in environmental activism, but the fundamental mission of the grassroots organization, 100 Thousand Poets for Change (100TPC), founded by Rothenberg and his partner Terri Carrion.

Created in 2011, 100TPC began as a call to arms for poets to address issues of peace and sustainability within their communities. During that first year TPC100 hosted over 700 events globally, completely reorganizing Rothenberg’s sense of community.

Eight years later, 100TPC has grown into an international platform that encompasses interdisciplinary year-round events. 

This September’s event gives participating individuals and groups an additional focus with the “Read A Poem To A Child” initiative. For Tallahassee this means over 30100TPC events will be taking place at local businesses and schools throughout the city from Sept. 24-29.

“I love the idea that people around Tallahassee will be reading poems to children,” says Rothenberg, whose co-sponsor, FSU Libraries Special Collections is also home to the extensive John MacKay Shaw Collection of Childhood in Poetry. “It’s bringing the community closer because everyone is doing something together. It’s a moment with a parent, brother or sister, grandparent, teacher and child where they can connect and have something to remember.”

A quiet, introverted child from Miami Beach, Rothenberg heard his future inside the recordings of Allen Ginsberg and Michael McClure. Poetry was the vehicle for his unspoken thoughts, propelling him towards the University of North Carolina where he earned a BA in English. Rothenberg moved to California after graduation and opened a tropical plants nursery that soon became pollinated with his childhood heroes.

Rothenberg talked about horticulture and writing with these leaders of the Beat Generation — a group of authors that questioned mainstream politics and culture — as they became his close mentors and friends.

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