National Poetry Month

April has come and gone, and with it has passed another successful Poem-a-day challenge. Since April is National Poetry Month, I try to write a poem a day. So, I've got 30 new poems. Some of them show a lot of promise. Some of them will never see the light of day again because they are beyond saving.


Daily poem writing is amazing for stirring up the creative juices in my brain. It's a huge shift from fiction, which is what I had been focusing on, but it's a fresh way to explore words.


A lot of people in my life are currently expecting babies, so motherhood and fertility were a very common theme in my poems. As a wonderful bonus, one of those poems about fertility will be published this month in the Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review.


I'm hoping to submit some more pieces to various literary magazines this month. Fingers crossed that a few get accepted. I'd like to hope that this is a trend and not a fluke.


My monthly writing group focused on sonnets, so I've penned a few of those in the past weeks. Here's one of my NaNoPoMo sonnets. It's a twist on a story you're probably all familiar with.



The Real Story


You met me at a ball and it was fun
to dress up and play at something that I'm not,
but midnight comes for everyone,
and all that fun comes screeching to a stop.

Beneath the gown and glitter, I am plain,
and dirty, and unloved, and overworked.
You make promises of love, and joy, and games,
and a castle full of other little perks.

But I'm not buying what you're trying to sell.
I know some things are too good to be true.
You can deck me out in silks, and jewels as well;
remove all that, and who am I to you?

Just a kitchen maid in a pretty dress,

too tired to be your damsel in distress.