It’s April, and we all know what that means: NaPoWriMo!
It’s National Poetry Writing Month, and the well-versed souls at NaPoWriMo.net are once again supplying us with inspiration, motivation and creative prompts to help us in the challenge of writing a poem a day for the entire month of April. I always have the best intentions of meeting the challenge, but sometimes life happens. We’ll see how it goes this year.
For April 1:
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but they never said you can’t try to write a poem based on a book cover — and that’s your challenge for today!
As a resource, we were sent to The Public Domain Review’s collection “The Art of Book Covers 1820-1914.”
I chose to use a cover to Jules Verne’s book From Earth to the Moon. My endeavor:
To the Moon
When first we breached primordial ooze, our lungs inflating from newfound air, we turned skyward with clouded eyes, and there it was: a moon! We grew a spine (well, some of us), strengthened lengthening limbs, climbed mountains and – finding our voice – we howled at the moon. Torsos stretched, gaining balance. Minds stretched, gaining wherewithal. Desires stirred beyond mere survival. Straining upright, we reached yearningly to touch the moon. Stripped of innocence, we clothed our bodies. Sloughing naivete, we cloaked our intentions. Finding pride, we adorned our personhood. Growing listless, we set a goal: we would walk on the moon. Scarred and marred from our abuse, at a distance Earth nonetheless appears a shiny bauble; a marble expendable in our cosmic game, because we believe if all else fails, we will simply move to the moon.
What Rhymes with Stanza? 
Hi, Maggie! Another April upon us. I wish us all much joy. The moon is watching.
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Indeed, it is!
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You started off especially well. 🙂 Well done for being featured with your Day One poem!
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That was quite the surprise! Now I feel pressed to make sure I can finish out the month.
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Wooo. Sublime. Congratulations on the mention. Gosh, well deserved. Wonderful.
What I loved:
“finding our voice – we howled
Straining upright, we reached yearningly to touch”
Yes, our history in many ways. Conquerors!
And then, in the last lines, you showed how naive we still are:
“a marble expendable in our cosmic game, because we believe
if all else fails, we will simply move to the moon.”
Tremendous thoughts here. Loved. Thanks. You rock.
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Thank you, Selma! What an honor!
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Lovely, especially the ending. 🙂
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Thank you!
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Congratulations on the feature! Yep, the moon bears witness to our growth and decline.
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Nonjudgmentally, too, which is more than I can say for myself. Thanks!
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Congratulations, Maggie! Love the evolutionary tale tied to the moon.
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Thank you!
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Beautifully structured and crafted. A moving snapshot of our crazy world. Thank you! Jules Verne is pleased.
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High praise coming from Jules! Glad you liked it.
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Just a wonderful journey across time and space and a pleasure to read! 🙂
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Thank you!
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👏👏
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This is nice
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Thank you.
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Perfect
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Thank you.
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Warm regards from us, duorempong
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