Hello, everyone. I’m finding it hard to believe, myself, but as of today we are two-thirds of the way through Na/GloPoWriMo 2022.

Today’s featured participant is, again, two participants. In response to Day 19’s “command” prompt, Jessica McWhirt brings us a tough but tender elegy, while Elizabeth Burnham provides us with a meditation on the role of the poet.

Our featured online journal for today is Diode, which has been publishing quarterly issues since 2007. In their newest issue, I’ll point you to Heidi Seaborn’s poem “upon seeing an elephant seal in front of my house in West Seattle” and Michael Robins’ “If One Has a Mind That Way.”

And now for today’s (optional) prompt. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that anthropomorphizes a kind of food. It could be a favorite food of yours, or maybe one you feel conflicted about. I feel conflicted about Black Forest Cake, for example. It always looks so pretty in a bakery window, and I want to like the combination of cherries and chocolate . . . but I don’t. But how does the cake feel about it?

Happy writing!

Happy Tuesday, all, and happy nineteeth day of Na/GloPoWriMo.

Our featured participant today is Ute Kelly, who brings us a lyrical and mysterious response to Day 18’s “five answers” prompt.

Today’s featured online journal is The Cortland Review, which has published nearly ninety issues over more than twenty years. In their newest issue, I’ll point you to Justin Janisse’s “Missing You, Expensively” and Grace Q. Song’s “Birthday.”

And now for our daily (optional) prompt! Today’s challenge is to write a poem that starts with a command. It could be as uncomplicated as “Look,” as plaintive as “Come back,” or as silly as “Don’t you even think about putting that hot sauce in your hair.” Whatever command you choose, I hope you have fun ordering your readers around.

Happy writing!

Happy eighteenth day of Na/GloPoWriMo, everybody!

Today’s featured participant is Sunra Rainz, who provides a moving response to Day 17’s canine prompt.

Our featured online journal for the day is Waccamaw. They’ve typically published issues twice a year, and are now up to their 26^th. In their newest issue, I’ll point you to Elizabeth Muscari’s poem “Cannoli,” and John A. Nieves’ “They Named Us All John/Juan.”

Last but not least, here is today’s prompt (optional, as always). It’s based on Faisal Mohyuddin’s poem “Five Answers to the Same Question.” Today, I’d like to challenge you to write your own poem that provides five answers to the same question – without ever specifically identifying the question that is being answered.

Happy writing!

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re ready for the seventeenth day of Na/GloPoWriMo because, for better or worse, that’s where we are!

Our featured participant for the day is Poem Dive, where you’ll find a birthday-gift in the form of a poem responding to our curtal sonnet prompt

Today’s featured online journal is Plume, which has published more than 120 issues since 2011! All of their archives are available, too, making Plume’s website a great place to discover new-to-you poets and poems. From their latest issue, I’ll point you toward David Wojahn’s “Threnody: December 2020” and Alan Shapiro’s “Sweet Nothings.”

And now here’s our daily (optional) prompt. This is a fun one – it’s a prompt developed by the comic artist Lynda Barry, and it asks you to think about dogs you have known, seen, or heard about, and then use them as a springboard into wherever they take you.

Happy writing!

Welcome to the second half of Na/GloPoWriMo 2022, everyone!

Today’s featured participant is, once again, two featured participants. First up, Flutterby’s NaPoWriMo, where the poem involves something that you are either mad for or couldn’t care less about — sports. And second, a rather haunting exploration of cryptocurrency by Katie Staten.

Our featured online journal today is The Leon Literary Review, which publishes a new issue every other month. From their most recent issue (their twelfth), I’ll point you in the direction of Meg Stout’s poem “Hinge,” and Lily Greenberg’s “To the boy who thinks his body, like a woman.”

And now for our prompt (optional, as always). Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a curtal sonnet. This is a variation on the classic 14-line sonnet. The curtal sonnet form was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and he used it for what is probably his most famous poem, “Pied Beauty.” A curtal sonnet has eleven lines, instead of the usual fourteen, and the last line is shorter than the ten that precede it. Here are two other examples of Hopkins’ curtal sonnets: “Ash Boughs,” and “Peace.”

Happy writing!

Happy Friday, all! And happy half-way point of Na/GloPoWriMo 2022!

Our featured participant for the day is Voyages des Mots, which provides us with a moving response to Day Fourteen’s “opening scene” prompt.

Today’s featured online journal is Atticus Review, which has been publishing online since 2011. Among their recently published poems, I’ll point you to Meghan Sterling’s “A,” and Martha Silano’s “If We Were Not So Single Minded.”

Finally, here’s our daily (optional) prompt. This one may seem counter-intuitive, but today I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about something you have absolutely no interest in. This isn’t quite the same, I think, as something you’re indifferent to. For example, I have absolutely no interest in investment strategy. Anytime anyone tries to tell me about it, I want to put my fingers in my ears and go “lalalalalala.” My brain tries to shut down! This is honestly kind of funny, and I think this prompt has value precisely because it invites you to investigate some of the “why” behind resolutely not giving two hoots about something.

Happy writing!

Hello, everyone. As of today, we’re two full weeks into Na/GloPoWriMo.

Today’s featured participant is Summer Blues, where you’ll find an inspiring response to Day Thirteen’s “amazing” prompt.

Our featured online journal for the day is actually a twitter-only journal: The Lickety~Split. As you might imagine, it publishes very short poems, ones that can fit within twitter’s character limits.

And now for our (optional) prompt. Today’s challenge is a fun one: write a poem that takes the form of the opening scene of the movie of your life. Does it open with a car chase? A musical number? A long scene panning across a verdant plain? You’re the director (and also the producer, the actors, the set designer, the cinematographer, and the lowly assistant that buys doughnuts for the crew) – so it’s all up to you!

Happy writing!

Welcome back, everyone, for the thirteenth day of Na/GloPoWriMo. While the number thirteen is sometimes considered unlucky, I hope today is your lucky day when it comes to writing poetry.

Our featured participant for today is two participants yet again! First up, clayandbranches, where you’ll find a poem in honor of “The World’s Smallest Joy.” And second, My Ordinary Moments, where you’ll find two quatrains on jewelry.

Today’s featured online journal is Occulum, which boasts twelve issues so far and a rather hypnotic webpage! In Occulum’s latest issue, I’ll point you to these two poems by Estelle Anderson.

And now for our (optional) prompt! Today, in honor of the potential luckiness of the number 13, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that, like the example poem here, joyfully states that “Everything is Going to Be Amazing.” Sometimes, good fortune can seem impossibly distant, but even if you can’t drum up the enthusiasm to write yourself a riotous pep-talk, perhaps you can muse on the possibility of good things coming down the track. As they say, “the sun will come up tomorrow,” and if nothing else, this world offers us the persistent possibility of surprise.

Happy writing!

Happy twelfth day of Na/GloPoWrimo, all!

Today’s featured participant is a double dose again, because you all are producing such lovely work that I’m finding it difficult to pick! In response ot Day Eleven’s “big” prompt, we first have Wind Rush‘s quiet meditation on relative size. Second, The Silver Cow Creamer brings us a short and snappy quatrain in homage to a giant poppadom.

Our featured online journal for the day is Stirring. In their latest issue, I’ll point you to these two haibuns by Jennifer Perrine.

Today’s prompt (optional, as always) should come as no surprise. Yesterday, I challenged you to write a poem about a very large thing. Today, I’d like you to invert your inspiration, and write a poem about a very small thing. Whether it’s an atom, a button, a hummingbird’s egg, dollhouse furniture, or the mythical world’s smallest violin, I hope you enjoy your poetic adventures into the microscopic.

Happy writing!

Well, it’s Monday again, darn it. But at least we have poetry!

Our featured participant for the day is . . . two featured participants because, once again, I just couldn’t choose. First, we have Whimsygizmo’s Blog, which brings us a love poem for that most poetic of celestial objects, the moon, and second, Snigdha Choudhuri, who brings us an exclamatory take on unrequited love.

Today’s online journal is Tinderbox Poetry Journal. So far, Tinderbox has published more than forty issues, and all of its archives are available online. In their latest issue, I’ll point you to Grace Q. Song’s “HOW THE STORY GOES,” and Ayokunle Falomo’s “ETYMOLOGICON.”

And now for our (optional) prompt. Following up on yesterday’s love poem, I have for you another deceptively simple challenge. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about a very large thing. It could be a mountain or a blue whale or a skyscraper or a planet or the various contenders for the honor of being the Biggest Ball of Twine. Whatever giant thing you choose, I hope this chance to versify in praise of the huge gets your poetic engines humming.

Happy writing!