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
And now for our (optional) prompt! Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that repeats or focuses on a single color. Some examples for you – Diane Wakoski’s “Blue Monday,” Walter de la Mare’s “Silver,” and Dorothea Lasky’s “Red Rum.”
Poem for Today
The Color of High School
21 April 24
I remember the scene shop in the theater where other students were tagging the walls with Rush, I was blasting out UB40’s Red Red Wine
I’d sing that song till my throat turned red
Feeling the words touch my soul every time
Filling me with hope that I would find a love worthy of that song
Drinking the apple wine Night Train with its dark red label
When at my lowest points I’d scrawl on my notebooks our mascot the J-Hawk
With a gun pointed at his head
And the pale blood of loneliness and teen angst splattered against an indicated wall
No one saw these depictions
Which is probably for the best
The walls of some of the hallways glowed when we lost power
A high school built initially to be a prison had few windows
At least that is how the story went
The stoners and the underground kids flicked their lighters
And we found our way to the blazing exit signs that always had power
The crimson letters guiding us to safety
At the D Door
Where smoking was tolerated
I’d see teachers and students monkey fuck each other
To light their cancer sticks and cowboy killers
And the rhythmic dull red glow of the embers matched their breathing
My high school was a vampire’s paradise
Gym uniforms, sport uniforms, the carpeted triangle
All reflected their devilish desire for blood
There was blood at every fight
There was blood on the hands of every bully
There was blood every month from the girls who were having their first menstruation
There was dried blood on the suicide kids cuts and scars
There was blood on the M-80’s I lit and flushed down the toilet
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