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In-house awards are lined up next to published chapbooks written by members of the poetry society. (Mica Magday for the Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
The poetry society continues to host members with notable awards and publishings, with one member joining the Recording Academy\u2019s New Member Class<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The significance of the society\u2019s part in Fort Worth\u2019s history and culture was recognized in February when the Fort Worth Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission unanimously approved<\/a> a historical marker. The sign will commemorate the longstanding society on the lawn at 512 4th St., the future home to Fort Worth\u2019s downtown library.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHistory markers like these connect the citizens\u2019 interests today to the people who established Fort Worth and to their stories,\u201d said Jerre Tracy, executive director of Historic Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanders says the approval of the marker could not have been done without the help of Denise Salerno, the Fort Worth Poetry Society\u2019s historian and active poet.<\/p>\n \u201cI want it to be a warm feeling,\u201d Salerno said about the marker and its future unveiling. \u201cI want people to feel welcomed and warm.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, the society extends its welcoming spirit to potential new members who want to be part of their monthly critiques.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent member Seth Bodine, a former Fort Worth Report journalist who graduated with a degree in creative writing and currently works at the Dallas Business Journal, said the anonymous feedback he receives is similar to what would be seen in a university classroom or at a professional poet\u2019s critique \u2014 for only $20 a year.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have a local, nonetheless longstanding poetry society that is not really expensive is a big deal,\u201d Bodine said.<\/p>\n Moon Abbas, who has\u00a0 a bachelor\u2019s degree in English and creative writing from the University of North Texas, drives from Denton for each meeting to improve his work. The society is the only place where he can receive meaningful feedback because literary magazines have high bars and don\u2019t provide critiques, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of us recognize the great value and how fortunate we are,\u201d Abbas said.<\/p>\n Sanders doesn\u2019t deny the tangible benefit members receive from meeting. He emphasizes the most rewarding part of his work is sharing meaningful moments with the people of Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanders recounted an event in which he read \u201cTreasured Melody,\u201d a poem he originally wrote for his wife, to a young couple at a Fort Worth Poetry Society event.\u00a0<\/p>\n The poem tells of a pirate quartermaster charged with taking inventory of all the treasure the crew acquired. While he counted the gold, jewels and spices, all the quartermaster could think about was the one treasure he was sailing home to: his wife.<\/p>\n During the poem, Sanders said he looked up and saw the woman crying. At the end, the couple kissed and thanked him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll never get rich reciting poetry,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cBut I felt like the richest poet in the world because these people were reacting to my work.\u201d<\/p>\n Mica Magday is a senior mass communication and media major at Texas Wesleyan University and a member of the Fort Worth Report Documenters<\/a> crew.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260326-MM-FWPSGroupPhoto-1024x683.jpg\")
Members of the Fort Worth Poetry Society dressed in pirate garb accompany President Steve Sanders and his wife, Melody Sanders, on the Farr Best Theater stage in Mansfield. (Mica Magday for the Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n