{"id":137990959,"date":"2026-04-09T13:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T18:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/?p=137990959"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:50:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:50:42","slug":"juxtaposition-day-9-of-national-poetry-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/juxtaposition-day-9-of-national-poetry-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Juxtaposition: Day 9 of National Poetry Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 9: National Poetry Month<\/h2>\n

Be honest – show of hands – how many of you are following along just to see if I can keep up with posting daily for a month? What’s the current over\/under? Just wondering if I should get in on this – I don’t know the answer, myself!<\/p>\n

“But isn’t J the tenth letter?” you may well ask. It is. And we get Sundays off, according to the “rules<\/a>” of the Blogging A to Z Challenge<\/a>. Why yes, I am jumping ahead of myself. Your point? I’m also a member of The Stafford Challenge – to write a poem a day for 365 days. This is my third year. I should have nearly 1100 new poems by January 17, 2027. You can hear me laughing from where you sit, can’t you? But if you count the unpublishable, the renku played with friends in Telegram, and other snippets that will never see the light of day or end up on the submissions tracker, it may be more than that.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to an important point: Writing is work, but it should also be fun. For me, it is best when it is playful and when done with others who feel the same.<\/p>\n

Today’s first poem, “Tectonic” is in response to the challenge issued to members of Poets Northwest for our upcoming meeting on April 18 – it uses the first 12 prompts posted on our website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"April<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/h2>\n

Tectonic<\/h2>\n

Mountain hunched in,
\nfolded stiffly on itself, leaned
\ninto an argument with Ocean.
\nOcean rushed, all crash and rhythmic
\nspittle, up precipice and crevice
\ncracking Mountain’s rocky ribs.
\nDeep the fault between them
\nlies crumpled on the sea bed.
\nSilent. Roaring back
\nto life with violence\u00a0 \u2014
\nnone to blame but time,
\nand that infinite eternal axis
\nspinning, spinning \u2014 friction
\nheated in a fire, energized. Burning
\nsquabbles, tongues ubiquitous ,
\nfutile flames lash out at Ocean \u2014
\nwhisper, Burn with me<\/i>.
\nNone can emerge victorious\u2014
\nwarring children of the earth.<\/p>\n

Other National Poetry Month Posts<\/h2>\n