listen - day 8

  

As I strive to become a better listener and to connect more with my sense of hearing, National Poetry Month 2026 finds me writing daily, handwritten, index card poems inspired by sounds and listening.. I have begun a new notebook to collect the sounds I notice throughout the month, and I will reflect on them in short poems. My ears - and my heart - are open wide. 

 

I invite you to join me in this project, on any of my projects from the past 16 years, or on a project of your very own. To do so, simply write a poem each day of April in any way you wish. Share or don't share, as you wish. Your poems are your poems. Your projects are your projects. And if you wish learn a bit more about writing poetry, I welcome you to the short lessons in the tab above: COAXING POEMS VIDEOS - 2024.

 

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems 

April 1 - listening, listening

April 2 - clicking kitty

April 3 - spring morning 

April 4 - tea

April 5 - team

April 6 - from far away 

April 7 - on a day of April snows 

 

Here is poem 8 - 

Students - Yesterday I bought a few boxes of cereal, and this got me thinking about the sound of cereal in a bowl. I like this sound, but I have never thought of it before while or after grocery shopping. This must mean that my focus on sounds and listening this month is creeping (in a good way!) into my subconscious. Maybe I am changing the way I think...just a wee bit, tuning my brain to pay more attention to the sounds in my life. For me, this is the reason for writing, not to make a great product or become published, but to stretch my brain and think in new ways. This is why I never use AI to help me compose.

 

I chose to place one word on every line to make this metaphor poem look as much like a waterfall as possible. Line breaks matter in a poem.

 

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup. 

 

Happy eating, my friends. Twinkle. Twinkle. Silky milk. Crunch! 

 

xo,

a. 

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