National Poetry Writing Month Day 2

What is National Poetry Writing Month?

Welcome, art enthusiasts and wordsmiths alike, to another episode of Create Art Podcast! We are diving headfirst into the enchanting world of poetry as we celebrate National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). This annual event, which takes place every April, encourages poets and aspiring writers around the globe to embrace their creativity and commit to writing a poem each day for the entire month.

The Beauty of National Poetry Writing Month:

NaPoWriMo, similar to its prose-centric counterpart National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), is a celebration of the written word and the boundless creativity that can flow when one dedicates themselves to a daily practice. Poets of all levels of expertise are invited to take part, from seasoned wordsmiths to those just dipping their toes into the vast ocean of verse.

Create Art Podcast has always been a haven for artists to share their creative processes, and NaPoWriMo offers a unique opportunity for poets to reflect on their craft. With a daily commitment to producing poetry, participants discover new facets of their writing style, experiment with various forms, and explore uncharted emotional territories.

Prompt for today

Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a platonic love poem. In other words, a poem not about a romantic partner, but some other kind of love – your love for your sister, or a friend, or even your love for a really good Chicago deep dish pizza. The poem should be written directly to the object of your affections (like a letter is written to “you”), and should describe at least three memories of you engaging with that person/thing.

Poem for Today

When You Found Me

2 April 24

When you found me

I was at the ripe old age of 19

Didn’t know my ass from a hole in the ground

And some days I feel the same

When I walked into that coffee shop in Abilene Texas

And I still live there in my mind

You welcomed me

Gave me a start on my journey

Made sure My Favorite Things played

In that dust bowl of a town

Where I thought I had landed on Mars

And the civilization I had encountered before

Didn't prepare me for what was ahead

When you found me again

As I was driving all over my hometown of Screw City

Getting high 13 times a day

I sat there with an old friend

Whose feet stank of bad cheese

Who didn’t have enough money to pay for electricity

Who had a god that he followed religiously

Whose sister was my next conquest

You stood by me and made sure my car didn’t kill anyone

Including me

You and my old friend listened to my rantings

As I read books from other madmen

And found that you had found them as well

And I wanted to emulate them

In hopes you would cradle me in your warmth

When you found me next

I was still on the weed

And I handed you over to my nephew

In hopes he would surpass me

In hopes he wouldn’t have to struggle as much

In hopes he would be able to handle the dragon raging on the inside

You found him, but he was too young

And had others finding him

Helping him tell his story

Accompanying him through his journey

And now in the mornings when he sleeps in after driving around all night

I invoke you to slip into his brain and provide some sort of relief

When you found me for the first time

Before the coffee shops

Before the weed

Before the searching amongst the madmen for sanity

I listened to you in the dark

Not knowing what I was hearing

But feeling something was there

Rebelling against the circumstances that I lived through

You spoke no words to me

But you prepared me for what I am today

And for where the journey would take me

Letting me know there were other paths that I would not follow

Until further down the road

A kid, in his bedroom

Headphones on

Listening to your murmurs

That I listen to every night

Calming my fears

Calming my mind

And when I need you, you are always there

Closer than lovers

Closer than real friends

When you found me

Sitting in the middle of the night with my newly born children

I let them listen to your soft voice

In that hospital room with an exhausted wife

I gave you entrance

Because you were the only one, I would entrust with what had been entrusted to me

And I relish the day that I see in my mind's eye

When my children sit at my feet

And listen with intent to the sounds without words

To the feelings you allow me to feel

And...