April was National Poetry Month, and I celebrated by participating in Escapril!
It is a writing challenge started by the poet Savannah Brown (who I love) and involved writing a poem based on a different prompt every single day.
I’ve always loved poetry and admired poets, but I never really considered myself one. For a long time, I wasn’t even sure what to call my sprawling, prose-like journal entries that eventually turned into something cohesive, or inspired a story. I became comfortable slipping into the word “writer,” and staying there, curled up under vague familiarity. But this month has changed the way I think! I can be a poet if I want to, and so could you.
Honestly, on most days, it was hard. There was a point, every evening, that I sat in front of a flickering candle and an achingly empty notebook page and almost convinced myself that I could just skip a day— such is the writing process. However, this month, I never listened to that sly little impulse. I sat down and forced myself to begin by drawing a mind map. I circled the prompt in the center of the page and wrote down as many associations I could think of, until lines and ideas and writing paths I could take were radiating out from the middle.
And then I just started creating…
It felt so good to create something every single day and to be a part of a whole community of writers doing the same thing. It made me feel productive for at least one reason, even on days when I struggled to feel put together. I could find inspiration and motivation in something new, and that felt so special. Though tonight will be my last poem of April, it will not be my last poem. 🙂 If you would like to see more of the poems I wrote, as well as some art/collage pieces I did to go along with them, here is the instagram account I created for this project.
I hope this may inspire you to write something different today! I believe in you. Happy writing!
Kalli Cinder 