Poetry Sisters Write In the Style of Lucille Clifton

This month the challenge was to write a poem inspired by four Lucille Clifton notes to Clark Kent. Our theme for the year is "in conversation," so this was a terrific mentor poem for talking to someone. I haven't written much lately because I'm finding it hard to put pen to paper in these strange and challenging times we are living in. Because of this, I decided to take on the #100dayproject and am creating some type of small artwork each day. It's been a good way to quiet my mind and nerves. While most participants work on one project for 100 days, I follow a different creative prompt every week. You can check them out on my Instagram. 

I wasn't sure how to approach this poem or who to address my notes to. I toyed with writing to another comic book or mythological character (Thor, Spiderman, Batman, Zeus), but none of those sparked anything of interest. Since I can't seem to get politics off my mind, I thought I would try writing notes to a president. I tried writing to JFK and FDR, but finally settled on our 16th president. Here's my poem. 

four notes to abraham lincoln
     after four Lucille Clifton notes to Clark Kent

they call you honest
like it is easy to be
like the truth won’t split you
worse than an axe
but i have seen the weight of it
hunched in your shoulders

another note to lincoln
you wrote freedom down
penned it clean
sent it marching into history
but the confederacy would not yield
your paper trembled
before the ink dried

a final note to lincoln
they had it wrong
they say you held our country together
stitched it with your hands
bled for it in words
but i see it breaking
the torn places
the ones that never healed

a note to mary todd
you prayed over his body still
your house in mourning
while a nation watched
today, i see his face on pennies
heads up
waiting for luck

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems my Poetry Sisters have written at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? We're writing ekphrastic poems to vintage photographs. Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on April 25th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Marcie Flinchum Atkins.

On another note, National Poetry Month is just around the corner. I generally tackle some themed poetry project during this time. You can learn more about all my previous projects here. Inspired by the article 20+ Different (& Wild!) Poetry Forms for Inspiration, I've decided to write to different (and unusual) forms. I can't wait to share a month of poems with you.

Happy poetry Friday, all!