The Miss Rumphius Effect

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

April 13 - Roll-a-Poem - Swamp Dirge

April 14 - Metaphor Poem - My Heart is a Glorified Drum
April 15 - Haikubes - A dream about our world

April 17 - Poetry Machine - Five W Poem

April 18 - Magnetic Poetry Kit - Untitled

April 19 - Poem Dice - Villanelle For An Archaeologist

Sunday, April 19, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 19

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Poem Dice.

This site from Language is a Virus provides a random set of six words to use as fodder for a poem. The image above shows the 6 words I rolled. I wrote and revised multiple times, but I couldn't make delightful fit. I'm relatively happy with the poem, so I'm okay leaving one word out.

Villanelle For An Archaeologist

Beneath the soil, lost worlds begin to rise
we brush away what time has hidden here
from buried depths, the quiet past replies

A fallen leaf lies pressed where memory lies
its fragile veins made visible and clear
beneath the soil, lost worlds begin to rise

As outline shapes appear to searching eyes
we trace their edges, hold each fragment dear
from buried depths, the quiet past replies

A deposit of small shards is our surprise
a trace of hands that once were living here
beneath the soil, lost worlds begin to rise.

We work till dusk as moonlight fills the skies
a hush descends, we slowly pack our gear
from buried depths, the quiet past replies

No truth stays buried, still the past defies
what we would hide, revealed so starkly here
beneath the soil, lost worlds begin to rise
from buried depths, the quiet past replies

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

April 13 - Roll-a-Poem - Swamp Dirge

April 14 - Metaphor Poem - My Heart is a Glorified Drum
April 15 - Haikubes - A dream about our world

April 17 - Poetry Machine - Five W Poem

April 18 - Magnetic Poetry Kit - Untitled

Saturday, April 18, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 18

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by the Magnetic Poetry Kit: Revolution Poet.

Magnetic poetry involves creating poems by arranging word magnets on a magnetic surface. The Revolution Poet kit contains more than 200 themed magnetic tiles.

I laid out all the tiles on my sister's coffee table (I'm traveling!) and then selected interesting words until I arranged them into a poem. Here's what I came up with.

we rise together

organize

a movement in the streets

raise our voice

stand strong against

tyranny

hate

a mighty force for

peace

justice

we love this country too

If you want to try this out, there are several online versions to experiment with.

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

April 13 - Roll-a-Poem - Swamp Dirge

April 14 - Metaphor Poem - My Heart is a Glorified Drum
April 15 - Haikubes - A dream about our world

April 17 - Poetry Machine - Five W Poem

Friday, April 17, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 17

Welcome, Poetry Friday friends.

For National Poetry Month this year, I am writing poems generated in some playful manner. I am using metaphor dice, haikubes, Paint Chip Poetry, Mad Libs, words cut from newspapers and magazines, magnetic poetry, an online poem generator, roll-a-poem, and more.

You can read the poems I've written so far at the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise
April 5 - Haikubes - A dream about my childhood
April 6 - The Poetry Kit - On Being an Octopus
April 7 - Poetry Machine - After Dad Died

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

April 12 - Mad Lib Poem - Mad Lib Slam Poem
April 13 - Roll-a-Poem - Swamp Dirge
April 14 - Metaphor Poem - My Heart is a Glorified Drum
April 15 - Haikubes - A dream about our world

Today's poem was inspired by Creative Communication's Poetry Machine.

The Poetry Machine contains various poetic forms and prompts for users to try. I decided to try out the Five W Poem.

Here are the directions.

Title: Who ___________________
Line 1: What ___________________
Line 2: Where ___________________
Line 3: When ___________________
Line 4: Why ___________________
Line 5: How ___________________

I wrote this poem for Laura and all the other good folks across the US who are speaking up for those who cannot and are standing up for what is right.

Protesters

A chorus of raised hands and weathered voices, chants echoing through a common breath

along the avenues where sirens bloom and cardboard prayers tilt toward the sky

at the hour when daylight fractures and the city holds its pulse between heartbeats

because silence has teeth, and justice refuses to sleep beneath it

by marching, step by step, until even the pavement listens and remembers

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

Please take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe. Happy poetry Friday!

Thursday, April 16, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 16

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by The Poetry Kit by Joseph Coelho.

This poetry activity set contains: 500 word tiles, 1 letter/MORERAPS spinner (MORERAPS = Metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Rhyme, Emotion, Repetition, Alliteration, Personification, Simile), 12 cards with 24 activities, and 1 rules and inspiration booklet for poetry play.

I tried the activity Action Poems. To play, you choose five red word cards, which are verbs, and write a poem that includes all of the verbs.

My randomly selected words are pictured below.

I was really stumped thinking about how these verbs could be connected. Ultimately, I landed on actions at the playground. Here's the poem I wrote.

Playground Sonnet

At recess, where the bright noon sun has crowned

the children race across the open ground

they whisper secrets no one else may hear

then burst to laughter ringing sharp and clear

Small hands will squeeze the rails and climb up high

while daring feet attempt to touch the sky

a careless step—then down they rush in play

and joy erupts though knees are caked with clay

They splash through puddles left from yesterday

and draw wild chalk worlds that will fade away

a scuffed red ball will bounce from hand to hand

a rhythm none but they can understand

The bell will call—but still their bodies run

unwilling yet to leave behind the fun

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

April 12 - Mad Lib Poem - Mad Lib Slam Poem
April 13 - Roll-a-Poem - Swamp Dirge
April 14 - Metaphor Poem - My Heart is a Glorified Drum
April 15 - Haikubes - A dream about our world

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 15

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Haikubes.

Haikubes is a set of 63 word cubes. Two red cubes have phrases that are used to set the theme of the haiku. Blank faces on the cubes are “free” and can be used as any word. To play, you roll all 63 cubes, select word cubes, and arrange them to form a haiku appropriate to the theme.

Here are the cubes I rolled and arranged into a haiku.

The theme of my roll was "A dream about our world."

Here's my poem.

in shady places

light slips down through dancing leaves

god is wind, not war

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

April 12 - Mad Lib Poem - Mad Lib Slam Poem
April 13 - Roll-a-Poem - Swamp Dirge
April 14 - Metaphor Poem - My Heart is a Glorified Drum

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 14

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Metaphor dice.

Metaphor dice contain red, white, and blue dice. Red are filled with CONCEPTS, usually abstract nouns or big ideas. Blue are filled with OBJECTS, or smaller nouns or humbler things. White are filled with ADJECTIVES or short descriptive phrases. To play, you roll the dice, make a metaphor, and write a poem inspired by it.

Here are the dice I selected. I used the metaphor as a title and wrote a pantoum.

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

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

April 12 - Mad Lib Poem - Mad Lib Slam Poem
April 13 - Roll-a-Poem - Swamp Dirge

Monday, April 13, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 13

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was generated using a Roll-a-Poem grid created by MissAllenApple.

Rolling a die directed me to write a poem about animals that was sad, had an ABAB rhyme scheme, and used onomatopoeia. Here's what I came up with.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

Sunday, April 12, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 12

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by MadLibs. This particular poem was created using a printable form created by Taylor Mali and titled Mad Lib Slam Poem.

Here's what my completed form looks like.

And here's the poem that resulted. This one follows the typical silly Mad Lib format.

I was born in the year of the stuffed rabbit.

My mother was a coffee mug

and my father a Tootsietoy car collection.

Is it any wonder I grew up to be a

kind of mad cross between Wilbur

and a giraffe.

Take a careful look at me.

I am creative, kind, and impatient.

Is it any wonder that at night I still sometimes have nightmares about

cockroaches on the kitchen floor when I'm walking barefoot?

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise
April 5 - Haikubes - A dream about my childhood

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

April 9 - Poem Dice - The Fairy Dance
April 10 - Blackout Poem Generator - Untitled
April 11 - Paint Chip Poetry - In a Parallel Universe

Saturday, April 11, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 11

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Paint Chip Poetry.

The directions say to pull a dozen paint chips and flip over a prompt card. Here's what I ended up with.

I decided to use the prompt as the title and the theme. I chose fog, in the dark, and ruby slippers as paint chips to use as words/phrases in the poem. Of course, ruby slippers made me think of Dorothy and Oz. That seemed a perfect parallel universe to write about. For this one I chose the triolet.

In a Parallel Universe

The fog rolled in the night you went away
in the dark, I followed where you flew
your ruby slippers marked a hidden way
The fog rolled in the night you went away
I chased their glow, but dawn turned them to gray
and every road I chose unmade what’s true
The fog rolled in the night you went away
in the dark, I followed where you flew

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise
April 5 - Haikubes - A dream about my childhood

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

Friday, April 10, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 10

Welcome, Poetry Friday friends.

You can read the poems I've written so far at the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise
April 5 - Haikubes - A dream about my childhood
April 6 - The Poetry Kit - On Being an Octopus
April 7 - Poetry Machine - After Dad Died

Today's poem was generated using an online blackout poem generator. Each day, the text selection changes. The text today Jubilee Hall : or, There's no place like home by Mrs. Greene.

Here's my poem.

the hill commanded a view

of sea and mountain

light and warmth

opened down to

the very ground

the scent from flowers

was splendid

the day

unlimited

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

Please take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jone Rush MacCulloch. Happy poetry Friday!

Thursday, April 09, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 9

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Poem Dice.

This site from Language is a Virus provides a random set of six words to use as fodder for a poem. The image above shows the 6 words I rolled. Here's the poem I wrote. (You'll notice I've already made revisions since I posted the draft on Instagram!)

The Fairy Dance

In woods gone softly dark, where fireflies bring the light,
the fairies ditch their shoes and whirl in sheer delight.

They try to look quite serious, with thimble-hats just so,
but burst apart in giggles when the toadstools start to glow.

Behind a curling fern, they dare each friend to peek,
then burst into laughter that echoes down the creek.

They murmur dreamy prayers to snails in silver trails,
then swing from threads of spider silk and fly on petal sails.

At dawn, the pale gold light brings a hush throughout the glade,
they bow their heads and drift to sleep beneath the leaves they made.

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise
April 5 - Haikubes - A dream about my childhood
April 6 - The Poetry Kit - On Being an Octopus
April 7 - Poetry Machine - After Dad Died

April 8 - Magnetic Poetry Kit

Wednesday, April 08, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 8

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by the Magnetic Poetry Kit: Revolution Poet.

Magnetic poetry involves creating poems by arranging word magnets on a magnetic surface. The Revolution Poet kit contains more than 200 themed magnetic tiles.

I laid out all the tiles on a board and then selected interesting words until I arranged them into a poem on the back of my butcher tray palette. Here's what I came up with.

shed no tears

today

dance in the streets

shake free of

every hateful voice

love is not

the enemy

If you want to try this out, there are several online versions to experiment with.

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise
April 5 - Haikubes - A dream about my childhood
April 6 - The Poetry Kit - On Being an Octopus
April 7 - Poetry Machine - After Dad Died

Tuesday, April 07, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 7

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Creative Communication's Poetry Machine.

The Poetry Machine contains various poetic forms and prompts for users to try. I decided to try out the Phone Number Poem.

Here are the directions.

Write your phone number
Line 1: Line has the number of syllables as the first number
Line 2: Line has the number of syllables as the second number
Line 3: Line has the number of syllables as the third number
Line 4: Line has the number of syllables as the fourth number
Line 5: Line has the number of syllables as the fifth number
Line 6: Line has the number of syllables as the sixth number
Line 7: Line has the number of syllables as the seventh number

I decided to use the phone number I grew up with, from way back in the day when my friends and I memorized everyone's phone number. I struggled with how to use a line with no syllables, so I'm leaving it to you to decide on your favorite curse word to put in place of the symbols. I did cheat in the second line, but I think it was worth it.

After Dad Died

(293-1408)

At last

the house leans in to hear your name again

dim rooms wait

still

walls hold echoes

$#@!%

home is not a house, but a heart.

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise
April 5 - Haikubes - A dream about my childhood
April 6 - The Poetry Kit - On Being an Octopus

Monday, April 06, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 6

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by The Poetry Kit by Joseph Coelho.

I tried the activity Spin to Begin. To play, you spin the spinner and write down the letter it lands on. As you spin 8 times you write the letters vertically down the page. Once this is done, you select a word card and write a poem using the spun letters to begin each line.

The letters spun were: r,c,d,y,w,h,p,s

The word card drawn at random was: octopus

Here's my poem.

On Being an Octopus

Roving beneath reefs, it knows the dark

curled tentacles reach into narrow spaces

drifting, it becomes a passing shadow

yielding its body to different shapes

watching from stillness, it waits

hiding where coral meets sand

pulsing once, then again without urgency

silently, it slips away

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

Sunday, April 05, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 5

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Haikubes.

Haikubes is a set of 63 word cubes. Two red cubes have phrases that are used to set the theme of the haiku. Blank faces on the cubes are “free” and can be used as any word. To play you roll all 63 dice, select word cubes, and arrange them to form a haiku appropriate to the theme.

Here are the cubes I rolled and arranged into a haiku.

The theme of my roll was "A dream about my childhood."

Here's my poem.

thunder sang to me

in melodic wild whispers

I ran like the wind

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve

April 4 - Metaphor Dice - Time is an Impossible Promise

Saturday, April 04, 2026

NPM 2026 - Day 4

Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2026, where I am playing with poetry by generating poems in playful ways. Today's poem was inspired by Metaphor dice.

Here are the dice I selected. I used the metaphor as a title and wrote a cinquain.

Time is an Impossible Promise

clocks lie

seconds fall loose

we hold what cannot hold

future flickers beyond our reach

untold

I hope you come back tomorrow to read the new poem I have to share. To see what others are offering up this month, check out Jama Rattigan's 2026 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup.

You can check out previous poems in the links below.

April 1 - Paint Chip Poetry - A Villanelle for Adam and Eve