April Brings a Poetry Challenge and … Snow

Welcome to April! It’s National Poetry Month, and I’ve decided to try another write-a-poem-a-day challenge like I did back in 2018. It really is a challenge for me but I could use a creative nudge these days. I aim to write a poem and post it here every day this month. I hope you’ll follow along, and please post any of your favorite poems in the comments.

It’s also the time when Minnesotans are yearning for signs of spring, especially after a long and extra-snowy winter like this one. Mother Nature decided to play an April Fool’s prank on us instead and add several more inches of snow to the crusty snow that was still on the ground. My social media feeds have been full of winter wonderland photos today. Beautiful, yes, but we are so over it now!

Today’s prompt from the London Writers’ Salon was based on the poem Having a Coke With You by Frank O’Hara: “use the wisdom of Frank O’Hara and write about how being in the presence of someone you love can turn an ordinary moment into a transcendent experience.”  I didn’t quite do the prompt but it did inspire this:

Both And

“I’d like to buy the world a Coke
and keep it company.”
–1971 ad campaign commercial

Sometimes it’s hard to remember
the good in the world
when the shouting is so loud
and the gray tidal waves
never stop beating the shore
with their force.

How can we believe in goodness
when children are murdered in classrooms
and fear leads to hatred of anyone different
and climate change kills communities and creatures
and corruption and greed govern our nation
and rights are erased
and corporate profits are prioritized
and no one can afford healthcare or homes
or food or retirement or college loans
and the rich get richer
and everyone is suffering
and nothing changes
and nobody cares.

These waves,
fierce and relentless,
threaten to drown me.
I forget the lifepreservers, lifeguards and lifeboats.
I forget I know how to float,
my head back, body buoyed and supported,
sun peeking through clouds.

Oh,
I start to remember
faces–
kind eyes, gentle smiles,
reaching hands, caring words.
Remember trees and skies and dirt to sink my toes in
and strawberries sweetening a summer day.
We must hold it all somehow,
the terrible darkness and the light.
Despair comes in, rolls out.
The world has always known suffering and woe
AND beauty and delight.
Let’s hold it all,
work to change all that makes our hearts weary,
and remember to befriend all that is good in the world
again and again.

Writers, if you haven’t heard of them yet, do check out the London Writers’ Salon! They are a wonderful community of writers that went global during the pandemic, and they offer free daily co-writing sessions called The Writers’ Hour, guest speakers and online events, and a membership site with active forums. I’ve really enjoyed what they have to offer!