NPM 2020 - The Beginning and the End

It's the last day of April, the last of National Poetry Month. I started on this journey thinking about all the places I'd like to go in a time when we are staying in and staying home. Pictures of those places served as inspiration for my poems. At the end of this month I'm thinking back to beginnings and to one of the places that is in my thoughts every day, and one I desperately miss.

Longdale Elementary School, Glen Allen, VA  

September, 2019

It started out so well
a dream really
back to school
every day a teacher's life
until it all came crashing down

I miss the early mornings
late afternoons
greeting kids at breakfast
lunch in the cafeteria
waving goodbye to their buses

I miss the gap-toothed smiles
the eye-rolling
the unicorns (everywhere on everything)
I miss the high fives
the fist bumps
but mostly the hugs

I miss what was
wonder what might have been
mourn for what will never be
and want it back
each minute we've missed
since the doors were
shuttered

I long for a do-over
a time-machine
to take me back to
that first day
before I fell in love
and had my heart broken

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for this year's NPM project. I can't thank you enough for stopping by.

NPM 2020 - Scooters

It could have been any city street, crowded with traffic and pedestrians on the sidewalks. But the signs and multitude of scooters reminded us we weren't in an American city.

Taipei city streets, Taipei, Taiwan  

May, 2007

scooters everywhere
racing taxies and buses
forgive me, I'll walk

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - LOVE Sculpture

Today, versions of Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture can be found all around the world, but it didn't originate as a sculpture. It was actually an image for the MOMA Christmas card in 1965.  In 1970, the first sculpture was made and displayed at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In 1973, the image appeared on a postage stamp.

LOVE Sculpture outside Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan  

May, 2007

With apologies to the Beatles ...

All you need is love
truth
spoken
and
heard
truth
lived
and
learned
truth
Love is all you need

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - The Great Wall

When I went to China I was particularly excited about seeing the Great Wall. About 50 miles from Beijing, this section was built around 1505 and was restored in the 1950s and 1980s. You can imagine the disappointment as we headed out on a most rainy and foggy day to make our visit.

Today's poem is a cherita. A cherita is a poem that tells a story and  consists of a one-line stanza, followed by a two-line stanza, and then finishing with a three-line stanza.

Badaling section of the Great Wall, Yanqing District, China  

May, 2007

underneath umbrellas

we approached the wall
turn left or right, which path to take?

we skipped the crowds
did not regret
the harder climb

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Roller Coasters

I love roller coasters. My son is often my partner in crime and will ride the craziest of coasters with me. Sometimes I get a bit nervous waiting for the ride, but once it's over, I'm ready to do it all again.

Fahrenheit roller coaster in Hershey Park, Hershey, PA

July, 2018

hold on to your hat
that first drop is a doozy
once is not enough

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Ducklings

In the courtyard of my mother's nursing home is a small pond. A while back a duck and her ducklings took up residence. My mother loved to sit outside and watch them.

Small pond at  St. John's Home, Rochester, NY

July, 2018

man-made pond hosts ducks
off course and out place, but
ducklings bring a smile

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 on Poetry Friday - Poetry Sisters Write Skinny Poems

The challenge this month was to write a skinny poem with the theme of foresight (again) or spring, or both. A skinny poem consists of eleven lines. Lines 1 and 11 can be any length and line 11 must use the same words from line 1, though they can be rearranged. Lines 2, 6, and 10 must be identical. And finally, what makes this poem skinny, is that fact that all lines except for 1 and 11 (the first and last) may be only ONE WORD LONG. You can learn more about the form at The Skinny Poetry Journal.

In my initial drafts I pretty much failed this challenge as it related to theme, but I did manage a few relative to form. I did write a skinny poem for my mom earlier this week with a reference to spring. You can read it in Monday's post NPM 2020 - From the Window.  I did finally sit down to write at least one on point. Here are several offerings.

Skinny 1
I come from
where
mom
knows
best,
where
family’s
first.
Love’s
where
I come from.

Skinny 2
My favorite flowers are
tulips.
Brightly
colored
show-offs,
tulips
herald
spring’s
arrival.
Tulips
are my favorite flowers.

Skinny 3
My heart breaks
inside.
Pandemic
isolation
sucks!
Inside
social
distancing,
staying
inside
breaks my heart

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Rebecca Holmes
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Christie Wyman at Wondering & Wandering. Happy poetry Friday friends!