Are you writing a poem a day for April?
It’s the first week of National Poetry Month, and I’m sure we’re all trudging through a swamp of drafts, so I’ll be quick—
From last week’s poll here on Substack, -ing is the winner. Thank you for participating. Keep an eye out for that poem in her final form and you can say you knew her back when she was just this big.
This week, what are you working on? Post a few lines or a whole poem in the comments, give and get feedback, gauge first impressions, show some love.
This isn't a poem. I'm working on the next book of poems and I want to divide it into 3 sections, with each section starting with a kind of...micro-memoir. This is the first one:
My sister is 18 and I’m 8 and her baby is 15 days old, meaning her life can still be measured in sunsets. She presses her nose to the baby’s head and breathes deep, says if you could bottle that smell, no one would ever be sad again. I think, someday I’ll love someone like that.
I love this! I’m working on a micro-poem (used your post on this for advice, Isabelle!) for my sister.
Canary In A Coal Mine
I kick the sheets off my body.
Rise to kiss my childrens’ foreheads, sticky
sweet with sweat. Pause to locate the ache -
muscles or heart? I remember the heart
is a muscle. Then I take all this sinew and make
like the bird who wakes in a dark world choked
by dust, but sings until the end anyways.
Again, again, again, again.