Welcome to Day 2 of 24 HOURS. For my 2023 National Poetry Month Project, I will share a new daily poem about 1 hour in 1 day in the life of an old barn. I will write 24 hourly poems, 1 for each hour of a spring day, beginning with midnight and ending right before the following midnight. Because April has 30 days, I will write and tuck 6 additional poems into the month, likely 2 at the beginning, 2 in the middle somewhere, and 2 at the end.
I invite anyone who wishes to join me in this challenge too. To do so, simply:
1. Choose a place or a person, an animal or an object you could imagine writing 30 poems about, someone or something you could imagine following and writing about through an imaginary day.
2. If you wish, download the hourly log and note page below to keep track of poem ideas as you have them through the month. You may do this project on your own, with a friend or two, or with your whole class, each person selecting different hours.
(Teachers - Please print or make a copy so students can access these.)
3. Write a new poem each day of April 2023. You might write in order of the hours (I probably will), or you might choose to write your hourly poems in a mixed-up order and place them in order at month's
end. If you miss a day, do not worry. Just come on back to your project when you can. Even if you write only a handful of poems around your subject, it will be worth it. And know that I will share some poem writing ideas along the way.
4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any 24 HOURS subjects or poems, please do so on social media with the hashtag #24Hours. Teachers, if you have permission from parents and only first names on student poems, I will share those topics and poems here in a Google Slides presentation.
24 HOURS POEMS:
And now for Day 2!
Students - As I mentioned, the first two poems of my 24 HOURS project will introduce what is to come in the following days. Yesterday's poem spoke of old barns in general, and today we zoom into our main character of the month - this one barn. My April poems will highlight our family's old barn which you can see below. I took this picture just steps from where I wrote the poem outside this afternoon. (It is a warm day today and so lovely to write outside!)
Old Barn on April 2, 2023
Photo by Amy LV
If you are joining me on this journey and also choosing to introduce your subject to your readers, consider writing a poem of invitation as I have done here. By using the words we and us, I take the reader's hand, inviting them to come along for the observations, to come along for the poems.
Sometimes you will find that it is important to change one word of a poem. I did this today. After typing and recording, I realized that one word would be better than another. The first two lines originally read, Let us do that/Let us stare at/one barn/for one day. As I thought about this, staring at a barn for a whole day seemed a bit much. It made sense in yesterday's poem, in that abstract way. But now, with one particular barn, 24 hours of staring seemed a little wacky. Now, the line reads, Let us do that/Let us study/one barn/for one day. I like this better. Remember: revision is our friend. Even though I had to retype and rerecord, I am glad I did because my poem is stronger.
Tomorrow I begin at midnight. You might choose to begin at a different time. We each are the boss of our own projects!
To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy continued National Poetry Month!
xo,
Amy
Please share a comment below if you wish.
Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.
If you are under 13 years old, please only comment
with a parent or as part of a group with your teacher.
