There’s brittle soup in her bones.
\nHer marrow’s been sucked dry
\nAnd no one listens, not even Ben
\n(The night orderly) whose paltry paycheck
\nIs the trickle-down
\nFrom her paltry pension and
\nA reverse-mortgage that somehow
\n(She can’t remember details) turns
\nHer tidy kitchen into Ben’s
\nPregnant girlfriend’s gel nails.
\nShe wonders if the girl can cook
\nAnd wishes she could will herself
\nTo rise up, scrape her rice-paper skin
\nFrom the mechanical bed
\nTo throw open the window,
\nUnfurl her wings,
\nInhale the night
\nAnd fly. But even dreams
\nThese days
\nTake work
\nAnd breath
\nAnd time she doesn’t have.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Holly Jahangiri (April 20, 2023)<\/em><\/p>\n Francine Ringold<\/strong> – 15th\u00a0poet laureate<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0State of Oklahoma. <\/sup>In 1966, Ringold became the editor of Nimrod<\/i>, the literary magazine of the\u00a0University of Tulsa<\/a>, where she earned her Ph.D.\u00a0Ringold went on to edit\u00a0Nimrod<\/i> and teach at the University of Tulsa for nearly 50 years. I was lucky enough to be one of her students – in a playwriting class, not in poetry. I’m not sure how I passed; Fran once said, of dialogue I wrote verbatim from a conversation with my college roommate, “Nobody talks like that.” Little did she know! But in fact, I’m a better poet than I am a playwright, despite her efforts and her kindness in not flunking me.\u00a0Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Official Website of Francine Leffler Ringold, Ph.D.: Poems (francineringold.info)<\/a><\/p>\n Adrienne Rich<\/strong> – author of numerous collections of poetry, Adrienne Rich wrote poems examining such things as women’s role in society, racism, politics, and war. Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich – Poems | poets.org<\/a><\/p>\n April is National Poetry Month<\/a>. This year marks its 27th year. NaPoWriMo<\/a> – 30 days of writing poems – is poets’ answer to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).<\/p>\n This coincides with the A to Z Blogging Challenge<\/a>, now celebrating its 13th anniversary. Some participants choose a theme; others wing it. Doesn’t matter! The real challenge is to build a practice of writing daily. I think I stuck with it…once.\u00a0You can see the list of participants<\/a> – I’m sure they’d love it if you’d visit and comment on their blogs.<\/p>\n This month, my goal is to:<\/p>\nToday’s Poets<\/h2>\n
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