Poetry Friday - Favorite Poems from NPM 2026

It's May 1st, and I'll admit I'm a little bit sad that April is over. I thoroughly enjoyed my National Poetry Month project this year. I chose 10 different approaches to generating poetry prompts and repeated each one three times over the course of the month. I used a few commercial kits, including Paint Chip Poetry, Metaphor Dice, Haikubes, The Poetry Kit, and Magnetic Poetry Kit: Revolution Poet. I tried three online poetry generators, including Creative Communication's Poetry Machine, Poem Dice from Language is a Virus, and fouuund.it's Online Blackout Poem Generator. I also used a Roll-a-Poem form and used the idea behind MadLibs to serve as poem prompts. 

Looking back on the month, I thought I would share three poems I am particularly fond of.

Poem Dice - April 29

Wounds of War

We learned of war as if a fairy tale
with banners bright that promised peace at dawn
we stood in ranks, convinced we would prevail
then watched our shining certainty withdrawn

The order came, and all the guns stood ready
as bombs rained down to smite the roofs below
the ground shook hard, the air grew sharp and steady
and stinging smoke began its work of woe

What ruler speaks, then makes the children cower?
What glory hides inside a shattered door?
Grief fills the streets like poisoned water sour
and no one knows what any killing’s for

So war, once dressed in honor, drops its art
and leaves its oldest wound, the human heart

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2026. All rights reserved.

Metaphor Dice - April 14

My Heart is a Glorified Drum

My heart is a glorified drum

it answers the silence with sound

a pulse that refuses to numb

a rhythm that circles around

It answers the silence with sound

through bone it keeps time in the dark

a rhythm that circles around

each echo a bright, urgent spark

Through bone it keeps time in the dark

it calls me to follow its hum

each echo a bright, urgent spark

my heart is a glorified drum

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2026. All rights reserved.

Roll-a-Poem - April 13

Swamp Dirge

The marsh lies still—hush hush—a heavy green

a ripple parts where silent shadows glide

a sudden snap snap breaks what once had been

and something small is dragged beneath the tide

A muffled splash—then nothing left to hear

no cry remains, just bubbles slipping through

the reeds lean in—swish swish—as if to peer

then close again, as though they never knew

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2026. All rights reserved.

You can find a list of all the poems I wrote last month at NPM 2026 - Playing With Poetry.

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Rose Capelli at Imagine the Possibilities. Happy poetry Friday!