All of this month’s poems can be found at Poetrepository.
It is with relief that this NPM comes to a close. I’ve learned lots about writing poetry this month. There is power in working the same form day after day. You go deep and learn it well. You start to feel it in your bones, or in my case, start to speak in three syllable chunks. Similarly, there is power in trying to put big ideas into small containers. Synonyms were my friend, I learned to work the titles, and every now and then I got a rush of joy when I stuck a landing. Brevity was both a bane and a joy. I’m definitely ready to use more words and write more actual POETRY.
I also learned lots from reading the news every day. First of all, journalists are amazing. The number and variety of stories is endless. Bad news is way more relentless than my previous glances at headlines revealed. But there is also always good news to be found. It pays to be patient because things change with about the same frequency as they erupt. When all else fails, looking out the window or walking in the garden is the perfect antidote. Even just the act of making something every day and showing up with it in public helped put the news into perspective.
Map Created initially by Tabatha Yeatts and modified throughout the month
The Land of Poetry
On my first trip to the Land of Poetry, I saw anthologies of every color, tall as buildings. A world of words, wonder on wings, waiting just for me! Birding for words shimmering, flecked in golden gilding.
Binoculars ready, I toured boulevards and side streets, exploring vibrant verses, verses so honest and tender. feathery lyrics, bright flitting avian athletes soaring ‘cross pages in rhythmic splendor.
In the Land of Poetry, I am the conductor, seeking oodles of poems that tug at my heart, a musical medley of sound and structure, An open mic in Frost Forest! Wonder who’ll take part?
There’s a pause in the program; no one takes the stage the trees quiver, the audience looks up. Raven lands, singing Earth’s message of the sage. “Poetry in motion will be forevermore, from forests to sands.”
“Scatter,” she croaked. “Beyond Wilde Pond, to each and every beach.” Meek Dove mustered courage and sang, “Instill humanity with compassion and peace. Let Thackeray’s middle name, from this thicket, hearts reach!” Her gentle coo-ooo-ooos reverberate, soft as fleece.
Words dart, dimple—Do I dare warble what's in my soul? I’ve inhaled inspiration…yes, I’ll risk my refrain. I fly to the mic, chanting "Tadpole, mole and oriole! Come all living beings from water, land, air; come high and low terrains!
Welcome to the National Poetry Month Kitlitosphere Progressive Poem.
What is the Progressive Poem?
It began with Irene Latham, who hosted it from 2012-2019. Those archives of the poem can be found HERE! Margaret Simon took over in 2020, and those archives are HERE!
Here are the rules:
The poem passes from blog to blog.
Each poet/blogger adds a line.
The poem is for children.
Each blogger copies the previous line exactly as written, unless permission from that poet has been given. They then add their own line, offering an introduction if they wish.
I’m handing off the poem to Tanita, who will begin the final 3-line stanza. Heidi handed the poem to me, accompanied by the beautiful sentiment, “Our Earth is the Poem of All Poems.” Tanita, you can add quotation marks to my line if you think the poem’s speaker has said enough!
This final Friday of National Poetry Month is also a Poetry Sisters challenge week! We’re writing ekphrastic poems, so I chose an image from today’s NYT morning newsletter. Such a different spring view from my window and from his. When will this madness end?
Here’s what the rest of the Poetry Sisters came up with this month:
Today (Thursday, April 16) I needed a break from the unrelenting frazzlement of the U.S. news cycle, so I popped over to Al Jazeera for headlines from Europe. It was quite refreshing.
Happy National Poetry Month! My daily poems are at Poetrepository here and on Substack here and in IG stories here if you want to follow along. Or just check in here on Fridays for my weekly roundup!
Today is also Inklings Challenge Day. Linda challenged us to write an ars poetica poem, “A poem that explains the ‘art of poetry,’ or a meditation on poetry using the form and techniques of a poem.” I think mine fits best in the second category.
A few phrases in my poem were borrowed from Pádrig Ó Tuama’s 3/29 Poetry Unbound Substack “Belief and Wonder.”
Here’s how the rest of the Inklings met this month’s challenge:
Now more than ever, it is a blessing to be in community. I give thanks for this generous chorus of poets who have come together to create a poem for children, line by line. Special thanks to Margaret who wrangled us all together and to Irene, who invented this Poetry Month tradition.
I lost track of a week’s worth of lines while I was “away from my desk,” and it’s a joy to see how this year’s poem has progressed! Impressive that we’ve maintained quatrains with a regular rhyme pattern. We’ve opened, raced, sung, and breathed. We’ve painted and communed, rejoiced and given thanks. In the current stanza, we bask, romp and startle. Such fun verbs! Here’s the poem I’ll pass to Cousin Tanita for the next line and the next stanza and the next action! I’m not adding punctuation to keep that pattern going, but I will modify the capitalization in the current stanza to match the rest. Now it’s up to Tanita to follow, bend, or break the “rules” we’ve all set!
Open an April window let sunlight paint the air stippling every dogwood dappling daffodils with flair
Race to the garden where woodpeckers drum as hummingbirds thrum in the blossoming Sweetgum
Sing as you set up the easels dabble in the paints echo the colors of lilac and phlox commune without constraints
Breathe deeply the gifts of lilacs rejoice in earth’s sweet offerings feel renewed-give thanks at day’s end remember long-ago springs
Bask in a royal spring meadow romp like a golden-doodle pup! startle the sleeping grasshoppers delight in each flowering shrub
This NPM, I am writing acrostic poems using words from the Banned Words List at the Pen America Website. You can find my poems each day on Poetrepository, IG stories, and BlueSky.
This NPM, I am writing acrostic poems using words from the Banned Words List at the Pen America Website. You can find my poems each day on Poetrepository, IG stories, and BlueSky.
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
Goodbye Slice of Life March Challenge…hello National Poetry Month Poem-a-Day Challenge!
This NPM, I will be writing acrostic poems using words from the Banned Words List at the Pen America Website.
It’s up to us to keep the truth in American history, and in science. It’s up to us to keep reading, thinking, and being as gloriously weird as possible. We must push back against the urge to obey in advance and we must defend our institutions. We must not let someone else dictate the language we choose to tell our stories, name our cultures and landmarks, and prevent us from telling all kinds of truths. I’ll do my small part by keeping some of the “banned” words in circulation by using them to write acrostic poems.
Daily poems will be found at Poetrepository, but I’ll round them up here at A(nother) Year of Reading on Fridays. Join me if you’d like!
A(nother) Year of Reading 