On Thursday 8 October alliteration abounded and rhymes were forming couplets across the country as the 17th annual National Poetry Day was celebrated. Big names (Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Imtiaz Dharker, Michael Rosen and more) gathered at the South Bank Centre in London for an afternoon of readings and activities surrounding the frivolous theme of games.

But the real fun was happening in normal communities up and down Britain. Poetry slams, open mic nights, games evenings, reading groups and a rhyme-off between rival car dealerships in Lancashire were just a few of the events billed.

Edinburgh, of course, was not to be outdone. Events went on all over town, including a hoisting of the Poetry Flag with Tom Leonard in the Botanical Gardens and poetry readings on the train between Airdrie and Edinburgh’s Waverley Station. Meanwhile, tucked away on Crichton’s Close off the Canongate, the Scottish Poetry Library lay at the centre of operations.

When I arrived at their drop-in session of poetry themed board games and tea, I found myself to be one of the only takers. Sadly the rain outside had not driven in miserable hordes seeking literary refuge. This was truly their loss: it was a beautiful thing to sit in the award-winning building, in that strange afternoon-rain light, with tea and biscuits and the freedom to experiment and play games with words.

This is the whole point of National Poetry Day: it serves as a yearly chance for everyone to dedicate a bit of precious time to poetry. It is a day when the media can focus on poetry as an art form and people can get together and talk poetry just for the simple joy of doing so.

The Scottish Poetry Library spearhead the Scottish branch of the National Poetry Day campaign. Each year they print a set of eight poetry postcards and this year the cards followed the theme of games. You can go in and pick up a set of the cards yourself, print them off the website, or send the library a first class stamped addressed envelope and they’ll send them to you. This year’s collection includes the first non-Scottish poet to be featured, the Polish Czesław Miłosz, in celebration of his centenary.

The collection mainly features Scottish poetry, in Scottish, English and Gaelic, with translations provided. Topics include bingo, skipping, football and golf (the latter being by Arthur Conan Doyle, no less).

What does poetry bring to our lives that is so important that we need to set aside a special day for its appreciation? I put this question to the campaign coordinator Lilias Fraser. “I think it gives you the chance to see very vividly through other eyes, in a concentrated, knock-the-socks-off-you way. Sometimes you can have that effect with a brilliant novel, but sometimes you can actually get that effect from eight lines of a poem, which is quite extraordinary when you think about it. It gives you short, condensed experience and vision that isn’t your own. You’re not tied down to being yourself.”

Of course, National Poetry Day isn’t the only day of the year we can participate in poetry appreciation or creation. The staff at the Scottish Poetry Library pointed out that they host many events year round including recitations, workshops and reading groups. They can be found on Facebook, as well as on their website. They also make the impressive claim of being the fourth most influential library Twitter presence in the world. Look them up or drop in and have your socks knocked off by poetry. Even if it is only once in the year.