History of National Poetry Writing Month

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

First Car: Write an ode to your first car 

Old Baby Blue 

13 April 2023 

You did run like a scolded dawg 

That Marine was right 

To think I could have purchased my mid-life crisis car with busted rings 

For the same price as you 

I wouldn’t have been able to sleep in that car 

Nor could I fall asleep at the wheel 

And safely get through Bloomington Illinois 

Changing highways in the middle of the night 

The stereo system I bought for you  

Cost more than what you were worth 

And you reminded me when it rained 

And the DIY sunroof flooded and collected fish 

I drove you to escape from where I was 

I drove you to Texas to escape where I came from 

I drove you until something flashier caught my eye 

And then I sold you for a motorcycle 

Because I had only crashed 2 other motorcycles in my life 

So that seemed like a fair trade 

You never started up again 

When all the paperwork was done 

And your new owner took possession  

You refused to be traded away 

And as I crashed another motorcycle 

There you stood stoically in the parking lot 

Reminding me that I would still have transportation 

Hoping I would come to my senses and take you back 

But no, I was young back then 

And flashy new things, which was everything 

Took my attention away from you 

And I bought a shiny new red compact car 

It looked like a clown car when I stepped out of it 

And that car drove me away from Texas 

From you 

From the memories we made 

Sometimes I seek out your relatives 

I look at what others have done with your kind 

And I miss our days together 

You were protecting me 

Me fixing another alternator for you 

Changing your oil from inside the cab 

Hearing that 302 engine roar 

Wishing it was in a Mustang 

But was resigned to hauling around my possessions 

You were my first old baby blue 

And I’ll never forget your shag carpet interior,  

your tinted moon windows  

The swiveling captain chairs 

And the fish tank turned sunroof 

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