April DMC Wrap-Up Celebration + Giveaway

"leak of ideas" by Anja Mexicola
(click on image to enlarge)

I hope you enjoyed our new Lessons from the Bookshelf series this month! Many thanks to Patrice Vecchione for allowing me to debut the series with an in-depth look at My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth (Seven Stories Press, 2020). I know I learned an awful lot. I hope I was able to pass along some of my enthusiasm to you.

If you missed any of my posts about this insightful and comprehensive book about writing poetry and living the poet's life, please click on the following links:

Introduction and Part I—Poetry's Calling: Finding Yourself on Paper

Part II—"If One Part Were Touched, the Whole World Would Tremble": Writing Poetry from the Inside Out

Part IV—"How Might the Impossible Be?": Getting Your Poems Out There

I also had the pleasure of sharing three writing prompts from Part III—Who Said You Couldn't Say That?: Twenty-Five Poetry Writing Suggestions in Twenty-One Short Chapters:

barbara w

"These are the Hands": Write about the place that empathy has in your life—a time you offered compassion to another or a time it was freely given to you.

patrice-photographiste

"Lost and Found": Write about a time you lost something or somebody. 

sammydavisdog

And "Into the Future: Take Yourself There Now": Write about that place called future, as you imagine it; peer into its unknown terrain, and see what you find.






Although there wasn't a lot of shouting in your responses . . .

Charles Lam

 or shattering, for that matter . . .

chiaralily

there was certainly some whispering . . .

Marc Cooper

also singing, praying, crying, imagining, and a whole lot of caring and truth-telling.

Elaine Moore

It's tough times, these days. There's no doubt about it. But it helps to know we have each other to lean on, don't you think?

allywin13

I appreciate everyone who dug deep to write from your hearts this month! Some of your contributions seemed like they would suit more than one writing prompt, but I sorted them as best I could. If I placed yours incorrectly, contact me via email—todayslittleditty (at) gmail (dot) com. I'm happy to make changes.

Scroll through the poems below or CLICK HERE to open a new tab.

Has National Poetry Month been keeping you busy? Did you miss one of the challenges? April's not over yet! This week I invite you to write a poem for any of the three challenges presented this month. You have until Thursday, April 30th, to add your poem to the collection. You'll find the padlet and more information about each of the prompts HERE (for empathy poems), HERE (for lost things and people) and HERE (for imaging the future). I will then move your poem to the wrap-up presentation.

Participants in this month's challenges will automatically be entered to win a copy of My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth by Patrice Vecchione, courtesy of Seven Stories Press (US addresses only). One entry per participant, not per poem.

Alternatively, you may enter the giveaway by commenting below or sending an email to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject "my shouting giveaway." All poem contributions, comments, and emails must be received by 5:00pm on Thursday, April 30th. If you contribute a poem and a comment, you will receive two entries in total. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced next Friday, May 1st, when we reveal a new Reader Spotlight and our next DMC challenge.

Join Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wandering for a poem inspired by Henry David Thoreau, the latest addition to the Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem, and, of course, this week's Poetry Friday roundup.