 It's National Poetry Month and the Wadena County Historical Society is paying tribute to Minnesota poets. As Mal Meyer reports, the event was a rare occasion for people to hear the writer's work in their own voice. Everybody has about five minutes. As a part of the Minnesota Voices series, the Historical Society invited area poets to submit their work to be read in front of an audience. We have never done anything like this before so we didn't really know how it would work, but we got wonderful response. For those who are interested, there were relatively few requirements. It doesn't matter if it was published or unpublished, it had to be totally original. It couldn't be more than 30 lines. I have three finettes. They were able to gather 12 works by poets from all over the state, including Finlayson, Rochester, Bemidji, and Pequot Lakes. And a rising eagerly swoops to the lake buffet for seconds. While there wasn't a theme that had to be present, many of the works talked about local landmarks or common things found in nature. Come witness with me the wonders I see from 15 feet of a tamarack tree. That included This White Pine by Marge Barrett, as read by her friend Jerry Meveson. Being is about a tree on the bank of a river or on a lake and I happen to live on a river so I can identify it with it very easily. This white pine once stood converged with the sky. By having some of the authors there, the audience was able to ask questions and find out the inspiration behind the pieces. The woman in 27A wants to turn this flight around. I didn't grow up here, but I've been here for 40 years now and it's home. And when I leave home, I think of all the things that I miss. It was a rare opportunity to hear some of the poets who had been published professionally. The species genus define her apparatus, introduce her as this adorned eagle of curls. While this is the first time the Historical Society has invited poets to read their work, they're hoping that it won't be the last. In Wadena with this week's in focus, I'm Mal Meyer, Lakeland News. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.