Dare or Dare: It’s National Poetry [Writing] Month
Posted in poetic on Apr 8th, 2007
An eight-days-late post:
April is National Poetry Month. It has also become NaPoWriMo–National Poetry Writing Month, according to several sources, including 32 Poems, a poetry journal of 32-line max. poems, and Poets.org from the Academy of American Poets, which states, accordingly:
April is National Poetry Month.
Inaugurated by the Academy in April 1996, National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.
NaPoWriMo = National Poetry Writing Month. [. . .] I believe this poetry-writing activity was originated by Maureen Thorson over at st*rnosedmole, but since it began, the phenomenon has grown to unbelievable proportions. Feel free to join in the fun!
The NaPoWriMo Challenge: Write one poem each day in the month of April. Or write a couple of ‘em in a day and skip some days. Or skip some days and catch up later. Just write. Who’s really checking on you, but you? (Though some are keeping themselves honest by posting ‘em on their blogs.) I’ll be posting mine as comments to this entry.
I may update this post with a linking to writing prompts, if I get the chance or learn relevant information.
Alternatively, just read a poem every day. Out loud is the BEST and, really, the most enjoyable. A good, basic place to start: Poetry 180. Or sign up for a Poem-A-Day to be emailed to you during the month of April.
fair trade
sip french roast dark brews.
call fair, two porcelain cups–
one for you, one me.
tidy western breakfasts, while
bean pickers drink brown water.
Recent Saturdays, Even in the Land of Grown-ups
[removed for revision and submission]
Revisioned Mornings
[removed for revision and submission]
Unattended Garden
[removed for revision and submission]
“Could the Poem Be About Baseball?” Cheryl Queried:
A Baseball-Wedding Poem for Matt and Cheryl
To the uninitiated, baseball and marriage
go together like a cheese dog and a boat of garlic fries.
Mothers, physicians and even your college buddies know
that whether they go hand-in-hand
depends on time and a healthy constitution.
But wisdom and truisms are only fuzzy language
echoing out from spectators and season-ticket holders.
Here, within the framework of a diamond,
atop ceremony that we may liken to the easy slope
of the pitcher’s mound,
are two players Most Valuable.
This morning, like a baseball created,
you are two lovers joined–
each situated alongside the other
like two new and supple patches of leather
stitched together by sturdy, even threads,
a new world, a self-enclosed planet of your love thereby formed.
And the game begins.
The stadium lights are brilliant stars in your night.
The ball is the extraordinary sphere of life,
the naming of it you will henceforth call “our life.”
The fans, in all of our jubilant cheer and adoration,
await the pitch, its speed, the kiss of ball to bat,
the sound of its crack a commencement
of a flurry of hearts beating, our anticipation, a hope
that the ball takes flight, sails out, out
past the farthest reaches of a known and measurable field,
where it might come to a graceful landing,
scooped up by caring souls, placed into the soft cup of a mitt,
worn by love and time, given the tenderest of care
to come out to play again the next day, the day after that,
and all days.