by Holly Jahangiri | Apr 2, 2026
Day 2: National Poetry Month
See Apricots: a Tanka Encompassing Three Prompts for the prompts I’ll be using (if I use any at all) this month. To the extent possible, I’m determined to combine all three, plus the Blogging A to Z Challenge, each day. That said, I reserve the right not to – despite my conviction that creativity thrives when challenged to overcome constraints.
I recommend reading the daily posts at each of these sites to get a fuller picture of the prompts, though I will summarize them here so you get the general idea:
Be sure to check out some of the Blogging A to Z blogs here, too! And do leave comments – seriously, don’t be shy. Real people who still blog still love to get comments! Egg ’em on! I’m number 81 of 133 on the list, this year.
For day 2, my personal challenge is to write an “express poem” – again, not a form, but my interpretation of the word “express” – to “recount a childhood memory,” and to incorporate or be inspired by the word “ubiquitous.” And to start the title of this blog post, if not the poem itself, with the letter “B.”
Bee Sting
Running barefoot
through pink and white clover
heedless of anything but summer
sweat and sunshine, sweet lure
of lemonade, links on the grill –
sharp, sudden sting – howling –
bottom plop, right in a patch
of honeybees and shamrocks.
Childhood memories last
a thousand lifetimes
longer than a bee’s.
Express
I used line length to hopefully capture the child running, plopping into the grass, then the relative shortness of a bee’s life compared to a human’s memories of childhood.
Of course, there’s also the literal “expression” of joy in running barefoot outside on a sunny day, followed by pain and indignation of getting a bee sting in the child’s howling.
Ubiquitous
I chose not to use the word, itself, but to hint at it in the child’s plopping down right in the midst of bees and clover.
Childhood Memory
When I was little, we went to my grandfather’s company picnic. Everything in this poem is a simple recounting of what happened. What I didn’t mention in the poem is that his secretary was the first to hear my howl and ran over to help me. What I remember most vividly is her incredibly long nails. I had already yanked that poor bee right off its stinger, but the stinger was still stuck in my foot with its tiny venom sac still hanging from it like a teardrop. She pulled the stinger out with her nails, careful not to squeeze the sac so as not to deliver the full payload into my little foot. I have no idea how I only got stung once, by the way, other than sheer dumb luck, after I sat right in that large patch of clover!
Other National Poetry Month Posts
Your Turn!
Please, leave a comment, a poem, a prompt – I’d love to hear from you.
by Holly Jahangiri | Apr 1, 2026
Day 1: National Poetry Month
3…2…1…Go! The first prompt from Na/GloPoWriMo is to write a tanka, a five-line poem with a 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 7 syllable-count. As they say, it’s like a haiku that decided to just keep going. Or didn’t know when to quit. If you enjoy this, grab a friend (or several) and try a 100-verse renku! That’s similar – and to oversimplify (as we so often do with traditional Japanese forms written in English) – a haiku followed by a couplet, then repeat the pattern. See also: Graceguts – Collaborations for various examples. Writing renku is how my collaborator (fellow mischief-maker and poetic partner-in-crime) Necia Campbell and I started our friendship. It’s also a great way to keep that poem-a-day going for months on end.
2026 April PAD Challenge: Guidelines – Writer’s Digest is also offering daily prompts throughout April. The first is to write a “seed poem.” This isn’t a form. It is meant to challenge you to think about the meaning of “seed.” Literal, figurative – other forms of the word, like “seedy” are fine.
My local chapter of the Poetry Society of Texas, Poets Northwest (so named because we’re in northwest Houston, not because we are ex-pats writing from the Pacific northwest!) also offers prompts for each day in April, thanks to Karen Mastracchio. Today’s prompt: Burning.
A number of my poet friends have combined the first two prompts into one. I wonder if I can write a poem that encompasses all three? Sure!
Apricots
Apricot sweetness —
Burst of angiosperm juice
covers sticky hands!
Seeds hide burning poison pills,
almond-flavored cyanide.
Other National Poetry Month Posts
Your Turn!
What do you think of the poem? I wrote it pretty quickly and I don’t expect it to win any prizes.
Do you like prompts or do they leave you cold? For me, “it depends.”
If you are participating in National Poetry Month, I invite you to leave a link or write your poem here in the comments. Keep a copy – I reserve the right to decline or delete comments.
by Holly Jahangiri | Apr 1, 2026
Poetry…in Texas?! YES!
If poetry isn’t exactly the first thing you think about when you think “Texas,” you’re missing out on a big chunk of Texas culture. If you enjoy poetry, I’ll bet you recognize a few of the names listed at Texas State Poets Laureate | Texas Commission on the Arts.
Join us! If you live in Texas – or if you have ever lived in Texas – and are interested in reading and writing poetry or supporting the work of living poets in Texas, please consider joining The Poetry Society of Texas | A member of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Inc. – just click Join PST from the main menu at the upper right. The Poetry Society of Texas’ mission is “to secure fuller public recognition of the art of poetry, to encourage the writing of poetry by Texans, and to kindle a finer and more intelligent appreciation of poetry, especially the work of living poets who interpret the spirit and heritage of Texas.”
Each month (except when we are on summer break) we meet via Zoom – so even poets in the most remote parts of the state can easily attend – and each month, we feature a member Spotlight Poet and a Program Speaker. Last month, we were treated to a brief reading by Fred Manchester and a marvelous program by our 61st Poet Laureate, Amanda Johnston. In April, our Spotlight Poet is PST’s Vice President, Michael Guinn, and our Program Speaker is the current Texas Poet Laureate, Kevin Prufer.
Michael Guinn is a social worker turned activist who now uses the power of spokenword storytelling to share truth & transparency in a courageous display healing and inspiration. He holds a masters degree in Social Work and has become an internationally renowned award winning Spoken Word artist/actor/poet and workshop presenter. Michael is also a voting member of the recording academy and the NAACP image awards.
Kevin Prufer’s newest books are The Fears (Copper Canyon Press, 2023), winner of the 2024 Rilke Prize, and Sleepaway: a Novel (Acre Books, 2024), a finalist for the Society of Midland Authors Award. Among his eight other books are Churches, which was named one of the best ten books of 2015 by The New York Times, and How He Loved Them, which was long-listed for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the Julie Suk Award for the best poetry book from the American literary press. Prufer’s work appears widely in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, The Paris Review, and Poetry, among others. He is the 2026 Texas Poet Laureate and Professor of English at The University of Houston, where he also directs The Unsung Masters Series, a book series devoted to rediscovering great, long forgotten authors. His next books are Good People: Poems (Copper Canyon, 2027) and the novel Summer of Shooting Stars (Slant Books, 2028).
We (I say “we” as both a member of PST and its current President) are a member of the larger community of state poetry societies – the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS). If you are not in Texas, click National Federation of State Poetry Societies – State Poetry Societies to find your state’s poetry society (or get information on forming one, if your state does not currently have one – as a few states do not).
National / Global Poetry Writing Month
“…This will be our twenty-third year! It’s somewhat sobering to think that if Na/GloPoWriMo were a person, it would already be old enough to drive, vote, drink, and probably have its own apartment…”
As if I weren’t already feeling old. If you have a blog (and there’s still time to start one!) and want to participate in this venerable poetric tradition, head on over to submit your site and add it. Then post a poem a day throughout April. This should be a cinch for those of us participating in the year-long poem-a-day Stafford Challenge, right? Hah. We’ll see.
A to Z Blogging Challenge
Why not add to the challenge and fun? Sign up for the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge: 2026 and tell them I sent you (when you sign up, there’s a spot for “Who referred you?” – don’t worry, I don’t get paid and there’s no bounty! But there is a deadline: Sign up by April 4 or you won’t be included in the list.) What is it, you ask? See April Blogging from A to Z Challenge: WHAT IS BLOGGING FROM A TO Z? for the full history – this challenge is ALMOST as old as Na/GloPoWriMo, but just now old enough to drive. It’s a great way to meet others who are into the same kinds of things you are – there’s a spreadsheet of bloggers, blogs, and topics and everyone is encouraged to leave comments on others’ posts. YES, PLEASE DON’T BE SHY – comments encourage bloggers (indeed, most writers) to keep writing and sharing their work!
I’ve signed up (again). Let’s see if I can make it through the whole alphabet this year. Trust me when I say that no one’s going to beat you, ridicule you, or ostracize you from the writing, blogging, or poetry world if you don’t manage it. Life comes first! (After all, life is what gives us things to write about, right?)
Other National Poetry Month Posts
Your Turn!
Comments here are meant to be conversational. I don’t want to twist your arm, but I do want you to know that as long as you’re not a spammer, your comments are always welcome here. I’d love to know a little bit more about you.
How did you find this blog? Are you a long-time reader? Did you stumble across a link somewhere? Did you land here from a search engine? (Please don’t tell me you were just looking for ways to answer your Samsung Galaxy mobile phone – I might cry! Well, I won’t cry if you stick around, comment, and bookmark this blog!
Do you have a blog? Feel free to leave a link. (Either with your name and email address or in the body of the comment, or both.) If you have never left a comment here before, it may take a bit longer for your comment to appear, as the “bouncer” will hold it in moderation for review. But don’t worry – I read and review every comment, and provided you’re human and not hawking drugs, gambling, knock-off goods, and so forth, I’ll allow it. I have a strong bias towards humans and bloggers who aren’t out to make money doing nothing, in their sleep. Will you be participating – either as a writer or a reader – in Na/GloPoWriMo or the Blogging A to Z Challenge?
Do you write poetry? Do writing prompts – for poetry or any other kind of writing – inspire you or leave you cold? Any other thoughts about prompts?
by Holly Jahangiri | Mar 10, 2026
This is my life, now. Bitching at bots. That would be a catchy name for a new blog, wouldn’t it?
Highlight Group Posts
There’s a new “feature” rolling out on Facebook, apparently. No info on it that I could find – just pops up randomly, asking posters in private groups if they’d like to make specific posts public. (According to the bot I talked to when this first happened, commenters will also be asked, individually, if their comments on that post can also be made public. I have not seen this, personally. I’m skeptical, and frankly, I don’t trust Meta on this.) As it is now causing a fair amount of consternation when it comes up, I went on a quest to find out if Moderators or Admins of private groups could turn this odious feature off, and how to do that. I don’t think it has rolled out to any that I own.
“Thanks for sharing your perspective on this.” I’m picturing Meta AI crumpling up all messages and practicing its three-point shot into the virtual circular file, which is now overflowing with user “feedback.” Screw you, too, Meta.
I found this: About group highlights for private Facebook groups – proving that Bing Search is better at finding helpful content on Meta than either Facebook search or Meta AI are.
A couple of things to note:
- Admins can’t currently disable the feature.
- Post author must approve their content being made public.
- Commenters on the post will (supposedly) be asked individually if they approve. Also, (supposedly) their comments will be hidden unless they approve. (Trust Meta on this? I don’t.)
Making Private Groups Public
Make sure you trust your admins – then verify before posting. Remember when Facebook wisely removed the ability to turn a private group into a public group? Apparently, they very quietly returned that ability in November 2025. See Change a Facebook group from private to public Members “will be notified.” Cool. Members will not see content posted prior to the group being made public. Also cool. New Admins will be able to see all content – including content posted before the group was made public. Not so cool.
Why Would Facebook Do This??
Well, if you don’t mind Meta AI guessing (and it seems pretty reasonable to believe, here):
As for why Facebook (or Meta, as it’s now called for its broader platforms) might be leaning towards making more data public or easier to share publicly, there are a few common motivations that often drive such decisions:
* **Boosting Engagement and Reach:** Public content can be discovered by anyone, including non-members or even non-Facebook users, through search engines or shares. This increases the potential audience for a group’s content, which can drive more traffic, attract new members, and ultimately boost overall engagement on the platform. More public content can also lead to more shares, extending the reach of content beyond the immediate network.
* **Competing with Other Platforms:** Many other platforms, especially those focused on short-form video or public content creation (like TikTok, X/Twitter, or even public-facing blogs/forums), thrive on discoverability. By making it easier for valuable content from groups to become public, Meta might be aiming to compete more effectively and keep content creators and audiences engaged within their ecosystem.
* **Showcasing Valuable Content:** Private groups can host incredible discussions, niche expertise, or unique content. Making select pieces of this content discoverable publicly allows Meta to showcase the richness and diversity of its communities, potentially drawing in more users who might then explore other parts of the platform or join relevant groups.
* **Advertising and Monetization:** More public visibility and engagement can translate into more opportunities for advertising revenue, as there are more eyes on content and potentially more data points for targeted ads (even if the *specific* private data remains private, the public *reach* of content is monetizable).
It’s a balance for them, though, as they also have to consider user privacy and trust. The new feature for converting private groups to public (where past content remains private and members are notified) seems to be an attempt to find that balance. Your feedback about the “Highlight posts” feature highlights that this balance isn’t always easy to strike, and user experience is key!
Way to spout the corporate line, Meta AI!! Woo hoo, all in and gung ho – “user experience is key”! Rah, rah! Get real. User experience isn’t key – Facebook has spent decades discovering just how much crap users will put up with before they delete the app and try hard to forget it ever existed.
Remember that since September 2025, any public content on Facebook can be used to train Meta AI.
Last Nail in Trust’s Coffin
There are good reasons for private groups to remain private, but this is a good reminder that nothing on the internet is ever private (as many politicians and wealthy pedophiles are discovering, to their dismay!) Facebook owns the servers, in this case – and they are only as obligated to keep anything “private” as whatever their current, hard-to-navigate, terms of service and privacy policies (they have many) say they are on any given day.
This is why I’ve been attempting to delete old content since late 2024. It’s a tedious and futile effort. According to the TOS and Privacy policies at the time, 180 days should have been the longest amount of time my deleted content could be kept absent a legal requirement to keep it longer. I’m not sure what “legal requirement” these posts would come under (note, too, the filter date at left and the date on these particular posts – selected and deleted, confirmed deleted, then reappearing like zombies at a later date):
Why do other, supposedly deleted, posts appear in “Memories”? Not just these, but posts even I can’t find looking through the Activity log. Oh, don’t tell me to go look in Trash – it has the same issues. It’s supposed to be a 30-day chance to change your mind and restore content you may have accidentally deleted. Since there was nothing “accidental” about my purge, I deleted everything in Trash, too. But it also randomly returns.
The most charitable explanation is, “It’s a bug.” I don’t believe that. Do you? And before you say, “Delete your account. That will delete all your data!” it won’t. Oh, according to the TOS/Privacy policies, sure – it will. But if you can’t trust it to delete content that you can verify it did not delete, do you trust it to delete content that you’re no longer able to check has been deleted? I don’t.
by Holly Jahangiri | Mar 1, 2026
The Pirouette poetry form is, according to a 2014 post on the Poetry Forms blog of the Poetry Society of Tennessee, an invention of Chuck Belcher, who wrote a collection of them in “Our Daily Grind.” Unfortunately, this is all I could find out about Chuck Belcher. I found mention of the form in a message from poet Judi Van Gorder, aka Tinker, in a post on Poetry Magnum Opus, dating back to 2010.
I have to laugh, every time I see reference to “an invented form.” Aren’t they all invented by someone?
At any rate, the rules of the form are as follows:
- 10 lines (decastich)
- 6 syllables per line (hexasyllabic)
- line 5 is repeated in line 6 (punctuation changes are allowed)
- a turnaround (volta) after line 5, which according to the Poetry Society of Tennessee “must be sharp, taking the thought in a different, hopefully opposite, direction.”
In other words, unmetered hexasyllabic decastich with a sharp volta acting as a pirouette between lines 5 and 6. (You hate me now, don’t you?)
Seasons Change
Breezy Spring’s all too brief and
Summer’s end blazes near.
Thunder rolls down green hills
and lightning streaks the sky
when the west wind blows cold.
When the west wind blows cold
and triple-digit heat
gives way to autumn chill
bring kindling for the fire
to ward off Winter’s freeze.
Your turn!
Give the Pirouette form a try – here, in comments, or on your own blog (leave me a link, here, if you post it publicly – I’d love to read it).
