Happy end of NPM! I, for one, am not sad to leave behind spotlighting the absolutely RIDICULOUS list of words the administration wants to ban from our vocabulary, businesses, universities, grant applications, etc. All of my poems can be found at Poetrepository.
Linda M. gave the Inklings their May challenge:
Whitney Hanson is a young poet who has caught my interest. She shares primarily on TikTok. Hanson offers poems that begin with, “in poetry we say…” In these poems, Hanson takes a common phrase we know in English and translates it poetically. Her newest book, In Poetry We Say…(self-published March 2025) is a writer’s journal full of invitations to respond to, “in poetry we say…”
I see an invitation to write in a few ways:
- Find a poem that you love to show how poetry translates English in a new way
Or,- Write poetry in a way that responds to the phrase, “in poetry we say…”
- Go rogue and respond to Hanson’s poetry in any way that makes you happy
In a way, I met this challenge all month long in April, with the striking word of each acrostic the “in English we say” part of the invitation, and the actual acrostic the “in poetry we say” part. Looking back in my notebook, I found this draft from Laura S.’s February challenge, which seems like a fine companion to my April project AND an adequate response to Linda’s challenge.
In typography, the small space inside letters is called a counter.
A Count. Account. Counter.
I’m
mapping
all the words
for what I’ll say
twenty years from now.
I consider their shapes,
their volume, their urgency,
even the nearly hidden space
in each letter, known as the counter.
(c)Mary Lee Hahn, draft 2025
Here’s what the rest of the Inklings came up with, if life gave them the elbow room this month to write:
Heidi @my juicy little universe
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Add your link to the Poetry Friday roundup here:
A(nother) Year of Reading 
Ooof, the list of words would be comical if it wasn’t true, like something out of a play spoofing a dictator, an over-the-top portrayal by Charlie Chaplin. It’s hard to believe in this day and age that words like “gender”, “diversity” or “inclusion” are forbidden – these are real things, whatever political party you support! The mind boggles. I can only breath a small sigh of relief that we didn’t elect a Conservative government here in Canada – the leader of that party promised to tackle “wokism”, which thankfully fired up the people to vote him down! Still, far too many people bought into his hateful rhetoric. We can’t be complacent, even here!
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I’ve been following Whitney for a couple of years now, and she has really gained quite a following. I love the idea of you “mapping” the words – those of us on the spectrum often map and plan and rehearse our words over and over, so I really connect with this. Thanks for hosting!
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Oh I love this–especially the title.
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Thanks for the heads up about Whitney Hanson! Love your Counter poem. The list of possible banned words is definitely ridiculous — pretty soon there won’t be any words left. How will anyone communicate? Happy May and thanks for hosting this week!!
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What a clever poem Mary Lee, makes me smile and nice shape too in your nonet perhaps… I look forward to checking out Whitney Hanson’s poetry. Thanks for hosting the Roundup!
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Thanks for ALL you do, Mary Lee! I missed your project (and so much with the late April wedding), but I’m glad I’ll be able to go check it out. Your poem here is great – really flows with no interruption between lines; Brava.
Thanks so much for hosting, and Happy MAY!
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Thanks for hosting, Mary Lee. Glad you are mapping all the words you want to say. Your April Project was eye-opening.
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Your post is full of news and information, Mary Lee. I shall absorb and follow up on these various delights. Your news regarding the administration word repression is quite disturbing. Little wonder you are banking words right now. Being quietly subversive is a lot of fun. I shall go in search of Witney Hanson. Your poem was both enjoyable and informative. Thanks for hosting and posting
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I know you are exhausted by the close attention to words you gave in April. Thanks for taking on the hosting today and for the counter. Great title. I enjoy how you push me to consider the words we take for granted.
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Your work with these words was a true labor of love: for words themselves, for the ideas they stand for, for freedom of speech, for the role of poetry. I’m sure you ARE exhausted, and now you’re hosting too! This one, that plays with the notions in the title, the way it considers the future, the urgency–most fitting. Thank you.
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Thank you for hostoing, Mary Lee. Your Poetry Month Project was an interesting one. Thank you for sharing it. It was a new concept for me and the recognition of space was enlightening. I hope May is restful for you.
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Your post made me ponder the words not on the banned list, words we’d like to hear less of currently, and what our vocabulary will be in twenty years. “Counter” in topography is a new idea for me—so your post got me going in so many ways this morning!
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What an impressive collection of acrostics, Mary Lee! I love the range from serious criticism to heartfelt appreciation of nature. Hooray for you for continuing the process throughout the whole NPM! In today’s post, I appreciate the introduction to a new (to me) poet and the new definition. I especially enjoyed “I consider their shapes, / their volume, their urgency.” Did you perhaps mean typography instead of topography?
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YES! TYPOGRAPHY!
Good grief. This is a two-error blog post. But here’s the good thing about this community — there’s enough trust here to either email someone privately about an error (Thanks, Tabatha!) or gently point it out (Thanks Janice and Joann!!)
Three cheers for collective editing!!
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Ooh, I didn’t know the word “counter” in this context. Thanks, Mary Lee. Your close look at words during April was wonderful. I didn’t make it to your blog often, but I caught a number of them on Insta, and they were thought-provoking. I love your look at the shape and urgency of words–now more than ever.
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Oh, my goodness…I love this. The counted syllables, the math-y words of shape, volume & counter and how the title broadens my view of what the poem addresses. Such smartness in a small poem. Well done!
Thank you for hosting this weekend. xo
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What a unique project you took on! And this final poem provides a lovely conclusion. Thanks for mapping the words and reminding us that we must speak up.
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