We are coming into the last weekend of National Poetry Month. It’s an opportunity to revisit some favorite poems, read the work of a poet you’ve wondered about, write a poem yourself, or check out the links for this week’s Poetry Friday and see what you discover. Ruth is hosting Poetry Friday at her blog, “There is No Such Place as a God-Forsaken Town.”
Part of how I’m celebrating is by participating in the the 2024 progressive poem. Poet and author Irene Latham began a progressive poem tradition in 2012 “as a way to celebrate National Poetry Month (April) as a community of writers” in the Kidlitsophere (world of children’s literature blogs). A different blogger poet hosts the progressive poem each day in April and adds to a group poem. Irene headed up the project from 2012 to 2019 (archive here). And Margaret Simon took over the organizer role in 2020 (see that poem and links to later ones here).
Most years each poet writes a line, but this year Patricia Franz began with a couplet (a pair of lines) and a call for a real-life world theme. Soon a narrative poem was developing on the serious topic of children with, as Carol Varsalona describes in her April 14 couplet, a “no-choice need to escape.” Most (maybe all) of us are writing outside our lived experience, but as people who write for children, the multitude of children who are impacted by and have been impacted by such dire situations weigh heavily on our hearts. Wishes for catalysts of hope and moments of respite come through.
On April 6, organizer Margaret Simon grouped the couplets into quatrains (four-line stanzas), which gave the poem structure and helped bring focus to the narrative.
Below is this year’s poem, so far, with my new couplet italicized at the end.
cradled in stars, our planet sleeps,
clinging to tender dreams of peace
sister moon watches from afar,
singing lunar lullabies of hope.
almost dawn, I walk with others,
keeping close, my little brother.
hand in hand, we carry courage
escaping closer to the border
My feet are lightning;
My heart is thunder.
Our pace draws us closer
to a new land of wonder.
I bristle against rough brush—
poppies ahead brighten the browns.
Morning light won’t stay away—
hearts jump at every sound.
I hum my own little song
like ripples in a stream
Humming Mami’s lullaby
reminds me I have her letter
My fingers linger on well-worn creases,
shielding an address, a name, a promise–
Sister Moon will find always us
surrounding us with beams of kindness
But last night as we rested in the dusty field,
worries crept in about matters back home.
I huddled close to my brother. Tears revealed
the no-choice need to escape. I feel grown.
Leaving all I’ve ever known
the tender, heavy, harsh of home.
On to maybes, on to dreams,
on to whispers we hope could be.
But I don’t want to whisper! I squeeze Manu’s hand.
“¡Más cerca ahora!” Our feet pound the sand.
We race, we pant, we lean on each other
I open my canteen and drink gratefully
Thirst is slaked, but I know we’ll need
more than water to achieve our dreams.
Nights pass slowly, but days call for speed
through the highs and the lows, we live with extremes
We enter a village the one from Mami’s letter,
We find the steeple; food, kindly people, and shelter.
“We made it, Manu! Mami would be so proud!”
I choke back a sob, then stand tall for the crowd.
A slapping of sandals… I wake to the sound
of ¡GOL! Manu’s playing! The fútbol rebounds.
I pinch myself. Can this be true?
Are we safe at last? Is our journey through?
I savor this safety, we’re enveloped with care,
but Tío across the border, still seems far as stars.
You can follow the progression of the 2024 poem at these blogs:
April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 (missed day)
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All
Karin Fisher-Golton 
Another character? Thanks for handling yesterday with grace. Now we have to worry about Tio, their uncle. Where is he? How did they get separated? Our poem reminds me of a verse novel I read: The Honey Jar.
You are welcome. Thank you, too–you helped it go smoothly.
About Tío—this group writing of a narrative is tricky! So it’s probably good for me to explain: My interpretation is that the siblings still need to cross the border that Leigh Ann referenced on April 4. So, both for the sake of our dear young sister & brother and because we have just four couplets left, I wanted to give them a landing place on the other side.
Oh, it’s wonderful that you gave us Tío, a safe destination, Karin. “Far as stars” shows the continuing worry, also real!
Yes, I wanted them to have a safe destination, and I’m glad now they do. They are sure in a complex moment soaking in the safer spot where Mami led them and they got themselves, but with a bit more journey to go! (Hopefully, exactly 4 couplets worth! : ) )
Thank you, Karin. I can foresee a happy ending getting closer and closer, although they still have a way to go.
Indeed! Thanks for stopping by.
Karin, I hope they find Tio. They have his address and a promise!
I hope so too! They’ve got help now, plus their own strenghth and each other.
I am glad that the kids are safe…no pressure on the last few poets!
So true–both nice that they are safe and no pressure for the other poets to actually get them to Tío. I hope it’s helpful whether they get him there or not to know that there’s a place for them to land at the end of their journey.
I agree with Linda. It is enough to me that our characters made it to a safe place in our poem. IMHO they don’t even need to cross the border. That might be another poem for writers who can write from experience rather than imagination.
I agree too–they could portray the actual border crossing, or not, or surprise us with something we haven’t even thought of! I hope that regardless, it is helpful to have the beginning of a picture of what’s on the other side of that border for them.
Karin–wow! I think this is wonderful. I haven’t seen it since early in the month. That bit before yours kind of felt like the narrative was over–but the month wasn’t! I’m glad to see you injected new conflict/suspense.
Thanks, Laura! Yes, my intent was to respond to the invitation to assess the situation from the last bit by keeping the suspense going while also starting to wind things down. (And bring back some imagery from earlier in the poem!) I’m looking forward to seeing what the next poets do.
Thanks for putting so much thought & care into these lines, Karin – and interest, too!
Thanks for seeing that, Robyn!
Your new lines add a heartfelt layer to this story – the pull to escape yet leaving behind loved ones. Thank you, Karin!
Thank you, Patricia. My thought was that Tío is waiting for them on the other side of the border. So he is who they are going toward, not someone they are leaving behind. I didn’t think the place with the steeple was on the other side–just a safe place Mami instructed them to get to so they could have support with the last and most difficult part of the journey. Reading these comments and the next day’s line, I can see that people saw it both ways. I regret now not giving some explanation in my write-up. It’s a good reminder that the meaning of a line in a poem depends on other lines to be understood.
And thank YOU for getting us started with a global topic and couplets–both of those things have made this year’s Progressive Poem interesting and meaningful.
What a story has developed here!
I know! It’s good we all had couplets instead of single lines for this.
Karin, savoring safety is a wonderful feeling for the narrator and little brother. I was surprised at your introduction to another character and loved the last few words of your couplet, “still seems far as stars“. I am looking forward to reading the next line.
Thank you, Carol! I meant for Tío to be more of a safe destination as we were starting to wind up and than a new character to explore. I really bungled communicating that. But, on the moonlit bright side, Tío has led to some lovely couplets already.