National Poetry Writing Month (also known as NaPoWriMo) is a creative writing project held annually in April in which participants attempt to write a poem each day for one month. NaPoWriMo coincides with National Poetry Month in the United States of America and Canada.
This website is owned and operated by Maureen Thorson, a poet living in Washington, DC. Inspired by NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month), she started writing a poem a day for the month of April back in 2003, posting the poems on her blog. When other people started writing poems for April and posting them on their own blogs, Maureen linked to them. After a few years, so many people were doing NaPoWriMo that Maureen decided to launch an independent website for the project.
My History with National Poetry Writing Month
I started writing poetry in 1988 after I had been exposed to T.S. Elliot in my honors English class in high school. In 1992 I started reading my poetry publicly at Espresso Europia Coffee Shop in Abilene Tx while I was in the United States Air Force. While living in Rockford Illinois I published my first book of poetry Throwing Yourself at the Ground and Missing in 2007 followed by Postcards From Someone You Don't Know in 2008 Wisdom From the Sack in 2010 and Shaving Crop Circles In My Chest Hair in 2017. You can get copies of all of these books in my merch section. In 2020 I started publishing my podcast version of the challenge and those can be viewed here for 2020 and here for 2021.
What I am doing differently for Poetry Month
For 2023 I am not going to be just writing poems in April, I will be writing poems all year round. Also, since I will be writing all year round, I am using a different source for my prompts. There is a blog called Think Written and you can find it here. I will also be performing these works at Katora Coffee House here in Fredericksburg Virginia on their Friday Night Snaps Open Mic Poetry reading. Some of the podcast episodes you will hear will be a live recording of me reading the poem to a live audience, other times I will be reading it in the comfort of my home studio. I do plan on posting my work to the NaPoWriMo site and interacting with the poets there and see if they want to read their work on this podcast.
Todays Poetry Prompt
No Prompt just write
Todays Poem
Perspective
9 Jan 2023, 2103
Mancave
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
It was the 2nd anniversary of those who send thoughts and prayers to gunshot victims
And storm the Capitol
And go to church on Sunday
And say they are patriots
And call people who jump when they hear a familiar crack in the air triggered snowflake libtards
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
That teacher was in critical condition
That teacher was forgotten because of a football player who almost died on the field
The shooting didn’t make the front page of a major newspaper
The prayers all went to the millionaire athlete
That teacher was probably underpaid
Probably skipped a few meals to provide supplies
For the kids in her class
Probably never handled a handgun themself
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
The metal detectors were off that day
The ones that children, Fucking Children had to walk through without protest
Without thought as to why they had to
As the lawgivers in congress celebrated the removal and requirement
Of having to pass through the same detectors
That their lackeys' actions caused to make the detectors necessary
That’s true patriotism right there folks
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
And now they are in custody
And now they are given around-the-clock attention
And the question is where does a 6-year-old gets a handgun
And who taught the child to fire it
And who taught the child to use it in anger
And who taught the child
Who do we hold responsible
Who pays for the trauma of the ensuing lockdown
Where kids accept what they are told
Pretend you are dead, be quiet, and don’t move
No matter how many shots are fired stay down
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
A 74-year-old man-child in his Florida resort
Who instigated a riot
Who stole top secret documents
Who’s crimes have been revealed time and time again
Sips his Diet Coke and munches on his big macs
Inflames the weak-minded
Love the ignorant
Love the children, as long as they satisfy his carnal needs
He walks free
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
How many days have gone by
How many other teachers have been shot or assaulted
How many other insurrections in other countries need to happen to satiate old men’s pride
I stand here, doing all I can not to cry
Here I stand a witness to a 14-year-old boy in a faraway land
Being shot and strapped to the front of a jeep
Paraded in front of his village as a warning
Did it happen on January 6th, I can’t remember
Should we just accept this horrid portrayal of groundhogs' day
And relive another shooting every day
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
And on January 13th my children must practice their lockdown drill
So that some inbred small dick asshat can clutch lustfully to his second amendment
An amendment he probably doesn’t know by heart
An amendment that doesn’t say what he thinks it says
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
A 6-year-old shot their teacher on January 6th
Let it sink in, let it permeate your brain
A 6-year-old shot their teacher
A 6-year-old shot
A 6-year-old
Reaching Out To The Podcast
To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let's start that conversation.
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