I am thrilled to share another wonderful April of poetry with you all!

Local highlights this month include:

-April 7, Flying Words Project at Kent State

-April 9, “How Do We Talk To Each Other?” The Cleveland Humanities Festival

-April 21, Ekphrastacy at Heights Arts

-April 24-May 1, Lakefront Cleveland Poetry Festival, including workshops, open mic, and the CSU Poetry Center Lighthouse Reading on May 1.

-April 29, Poem In Your Pocket Day

If you know of anymore events I can add to this list, please let me know!

Every year, I share a month-long list of poetry prompts for National Poetry Month. However, this years prompts will look a little different from the last few years. Instead of posting every day, I’ve decided to upload every few days and include a prompt, along with a formal poem in celebration of this great month. I want to challenge myself to write more poetry and to write more poetry in form, at that. I hope that I can end this month with at least five poems in form, whether that’s sonnet, haiku, villanelle, terza rima, ghazal, etc. I hope that you will participate with me!

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Let’s start things off with less pressure: haiku

cold threads early spring.
icicles down the maple
branches. sunny sky.

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And here’s a prompt for the first few days, mull it over!

Write a few lines describing a setting you know well that’s easy to picture: snow on pine trees, the back row of a classroom. Establish the scene with sensory details (don’t forget visual/sight isn’t the only sense we perceive in a place). Then have your poem twist, go somewhere very different, whether spatially or thematically, from where you started. (adapted from Billy Collins’ Masterclass)

Happy Poetry Month! Happy April! Happy Writing!