NaPoWriMo Lessons Learned

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The first time I tried and completed the poem-a-day challenge for the month of April was in 2011. I compiled the poems I wrote that month in an e-book called “30 Poems, 30 Days: Inside a Poet’s Mind.” Along with the poems, I explain some of the reasoning and even the mechanics behind creating the poems. It’s a fun, interesting read available at Amazon.
What I learned then, and during the next 3 consecutive Aprils, is that the poem-a-day challenge is both easier than you think and harder than you think. Pacing is everything and though we poets are sticklers to details, there is no need for perfection in order to complete the challenge (if you want to stay sane, that is). For me, i learned to do away with my censor and just write. I can always revise my work in May!
©A. D. Joyce, 2017

concurrent events

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the story is centuries old
the land-raped
government-corrupted
children of africa
are laid waste to starvation
kidnapped
exploited
strewn lifeless across dirt roads
bulleted and bled out
their innocence is not lost
simply subjected to indifference

the recently poisoned
breathless
convulsing
children of syria
for whom we would
sacrifice our own
in military aid
are equally as precious

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©A. D. Joyce, 2017

layers upon layers

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a residential enclave
in the urban landscape:
birdsong instead of fire engine sirens.

traffic noises come from parents
pulling in and out of driveways
taking kids to school
then going to work.

a woman who lives
on the corner of the block
feeds the strays, and sometimes,
even on a cold spring night,
piercing the darkness,
cats scream bloody murder
in the name of love..

©A. D. Joyce, 2017

 

the promise of april

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i came here to love you

through lifetimes
i have sought you
in every pair of eyes

i have strained against
the touch of hands
needing to feel your essence

and in spring
when the air reeks
of rain and dirt
i pick your flowers
and see your face
strewn among
the fallen cherry blossoms

i am not here
on this earth
to pull punches
i am here to express

i unbalance the equinox
with poems
obsessive and fevered

this is the promise
my soul makes
time and again
in each incarnation
and life form i inhabit

on this brand new day
i awake in the hope
you will soon be here
with me

 

 

 

 

 
©A. D. Joyce, 2017