National Poetry Month (2024): Hope is the Song of Birds (1 of 30)

It's here. Today is the first day of National Poetry Month. My plan this month is to read Practicing Poets: Writing Beyond the Basics, edited by Diane Lockward. Her book is full of 30 craft tips so it seemed the perfect way to shape this month's challenge - and dig a little deeper into craft. Additionally, you can follow my daily writing journey on my Substack page, Merely in Progress, for reflections, links, and inspiration. Let's go! 

Craft Tip #1: Word Banks

For this craft tip Sandy Longhorn talks about ways to use word banks to discover new material. She shared a few possible ways to build word banks to spark inspiration. I decided to create word banks from podcasts and reading from the morning. I didn't really stick to strong nouns and verbs like she suggested, but instead just listed words that stood out. Then I used some of the words to write the poem below. (You can dig deeper into this strategy on my Substack page.) If you have some favorite ways to build word banks, I'd love to hear about them. Just leave a comment below. 

Hope is the Song of Birds

our backs have turned

on the silence of gray days,

no longer huddled around fires,

when cold was the only constant. 

the gathering of birds has begun,

flitting from branch to branch,

flowers dancing in morning wind

watching, daily delights abound.

now sun shines in blue skies,

electrified energy abounds,

for a brief moment,

hope is the song of birds. 

© Cathy L. Mere, 2024