National Poetry Writing Month Day 6

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’s we’d like to challenge you to write a poem rooted in “weird wisdom,” by which we mean something objectively odd that someone told you once, and that has stuck with you ever since. Need an example? Check out Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Making a Fist.”

Poem for Today

Learning About Life Backstage 

6 April 24 

Bathroom walls  

Subway cars 

Discarded napkins at the bar 

Elroy was here tagged on a city alley way 

These are the places where philosophy starts 

But on the back of a high school theater set  

Is where I found my calling 

Life is like a shit sandwich 

The more bread you put on it the less shit you have to eat 

Was what i saw one day 

In the dim light of the stage 

And I have tried to put more bread in my life 

Because it has been a shit show 

I’ve tried wheat 

And only found that to be dry 

I have tried pumpernickel  

And my teeth turned black 

I have tried multigrain 

Only to pick out seeds in my teeth 

But sourdough, oh sweet sourdough 

When it is toasted with butter or oil 

Is the best bread to have to cover up the smell 

I once tried ciabatta 

And she broke my heart 

Well her brothers were going to break my arms 

So I stuck with plain white bread for prom 

Is naan considered a bread or just a vehicle for food consumption 

I have never been able to tell 

And the pita? Is it a pocket of goodness 

That I can crawl into 

And swim around in with tzatziki sauce 

And falafel and lamb 

What bread is best to make shit taste better 

And what bread is considered part of the sandwich equation? 

Will we ever know 

And why do we accept the shit in our sandwich 

Dripping out of the sides 

Does diarrhea count as shit 

Or must it be a log 

And what about a hotdog bun 

If we get a nice chunky log to come out 

Filled with corn and the remains from other shit sandwiches we had to eat 

Does the shit we are forced to eat identify us at all 

Or is it a badge of dishonor that we wear 

Proving to our lovers 

Who taste the shit we consume 

That we have suffered more than them 

I don't want a bite of your sandwich 

Keep it to yourself 

Because we all must eat the shit between some bread 

And all we are about is if it tastes good 

So, we can gobble up more of the shit we deal with in life 

Don’t focus on the shit,  

Focus on what makes the sandwich better 

Because we all gotta eat a shit sandwich sometime 

Reach Out To The Podcast

To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let's start that conversation.

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