National Poetry Month Challenge 2016: The Kick-off

Way back in April 2011, I was nearly a year out of my MFA and looking for reasons to write. The hussle and bussle of full time work had redirected what had felt like a 3 year capsule of a near-constant focus on literature and writing and I wanted something demanding. (This coming from someone who had also recently started entering the NYC Midnight writing contests the year before.)

I had recently learned about some blog challenges, read something inspiring by a friend, and realized that April is National Poetry Month. It was only a short hop from this to creating my own National Poetry Month Challenge.

In this challenge I challenged mainly myself, but also anyone else out there in the great wide web, to write one poem a day for the month of April (This was later adjusted to writing at least 30 poems, with the attempt to write as frequently as possible, as I found my "daily" challenge quickly fell by the wayside, and that writing 30 poems a month was still beneficial.) The goal is to pay closer attention to the world around me, write regularly, and not stress about editing as much -- just creation.

I found the experience so enlightening,  I have decided to do it again every year. Some years I fare better than others, and last year, I failed my own challenge, even though I extended my deadline. I am not impressed with those results, and plan to not only do better this year, but to complete the challenge in full.

This, despite being 8 months pregnant and due with my second child on April 20th. I say "despite" but in truth, what better way to celebrate new life than by focusing on a challenge that asks me to focus on creation and the world and life around me? And who knows what overly emotional and insightful, raw words I'll string together hours or days after child birth? I'm curious.

This year though, I also intend to challenge you more consistently. I've always invited readers to join me, but this year I intend to make the twitter and facebook presence of the challenge more prominent.

If you're participating in the challenge, please SHARE! Let us know!
If you tweet about it, please use: #NPMC so we can find each other's raw work.

Official Challenge Rules:

1. Write a Poem every day or for every day. You should have 30 poems by the end of the month. 
2. Don't focus on editing. This isn't about writing the best poem possible. This is about letting yourself create. You can edit the poem the day you write it as you write, a bit before or as you post, but then you are done with it. Let's face it, when you're making changes that fresh, it isn't really editing anyway. Mainly, no returning to that sucker with your scalpel until May or later. 
3. Don't judge yourself too much. You'll find that as you seek material you'll write lazy poems and vastly more creative poems or poems about things you wouldn't think to write about and terrible poems. There'll likely also be a lot of writing poems about writing (how over done! lol). It's fine. This is about creation. 
4. Pay attention. Three runs into four. As you seek material and try to get out of any poem ruts you feel you are in, you'll start paying more attention to the world. You'll start thinking can I poem this? This is good. Go with it. 
5. Share your raw work. This is a tough one for some. How can we share something we haven't edited or don't fully back? Doesn't it represent my ability as a writer? How can we share something we may even think sucks? This is part of the challenge. Share it. Get it out there. Take pride in the fact that you created something. Your raw ideas have more merit than you give them. When you fix it later, we'll be all that more impressed ;) .

That's it.  I'll be looking for you out there.

Oh, and, since it is April 2nd already, here's my first  2 poems for the challenge!  Nice and Raw. Written just after finishing this post.

NPMC2016 Poem 1:

"Living Change"


Changes are constant
tumbling 'round as we breathe
in and out
Invisible
Monumental


We live them
cause them
ignore them
rarely plan them

then get startled

Where did all our sameness go?


NPMC2016 Poem 2: 

"My Second Child"


You're not even here yet
and already your share of me
is divided

No, that's wrong.
You are here.
You move inside me
more violently than your brother

Already you're wishing you could pull my arm
and beg Mommommomomom
like he does
or grab my cheeks with little hands
after scaling my lap
and turn my face toward yours

Look at me and stop what you're doing.

Life already intrudes so quickly
work and chores and even your father
the dogs the cats the deadlines
the dust collecting in the stairs

Where will you fit? Do you fear this?
There's no monthly bump posts
No fresh nursery
most of your possessions already
are hand me downs

Sometimes, forgive me,
I can even forget you
relax into a movie
climb a flight of stairs without losing breath
Then you remind me
by turning on the burner as I reach for something over the stove
your big home, my belly, rubbing and pressing things

or just by kicking me hard

Damnit mom, I'm right here.  

But we do have our moments
our quiet moments where I rub your back
and you answer by rolling over
and I plan meeting you
naming you
holding you
loving you
sharing you with this big world that is so demanding
your brother your father the cats the dogs
and even the dust on the stairs

And you'll carve out your own space
just like you expanded my belly
you'll expand this world
you'll make your mark
and even when I'm not looking or thinking or speaking
in your direction
I'll know you're there
a part of me
impossible to ever truly ignore