Post NaPoWriMo
April was National Poetry Writing Month, hence the acronym above; it was tough and I feel successful about it even though I didn’t write 30 poems in 30 days. I feel good about it because I wrote two haiku poems and one poem free verse style of which I am particularly proud. I’ll re-post them below. Let me know what you think either by replying to my blog post or by emailing me: dungarees@optonline.net
First, the haiku. There is one line of traditional thinking that states that haiku should never be titled, that it takes away from the juxtaposition of the impact of the words themselves. There is another, more modern line of thinking that says the poet can title haiku. I’ll compromise and sum each up in a one word title.
Sunrise
Bird songs of sun light
Welcome sounds delight the soul
Awaken the mind
Changes
No chill in the breeze
Rejoice in the birth of spring
How soon we forget
I also posted the next poem and dedicated to Vietnam Veterans. This poem took a week to write and tweak, so I could say that even though I didn’t write any new material each day in April, I did allow the Muse to take me on another creative journey that culminated in the poem below.
Lost Something along the Way
By Ann Chiappetta
Youth yearns for action
The best soldiers eighteen to twenty one
Because that’s the way to make ‘em.
Things were different back then
Molded and forsaken,
Sent to serve
Jetted to another continent
Touching down in a humid foreign hell
Splotches of Olive drab upon shades of green
Toe tags and body bags
Shades of sorrow buried
With ordinance and trash
Dangerous to feel, so don’t
No safety — well maybe
Caught in a reprieve of minutes,
in beer cans and tokes
Brotherhood in chaos
Metal birds carry them
Innocence drained
With the fluids
flowing out onto the deck plates
In the teeth of fear
Feed the guns, starve the soul
Welcome to Vietnam says the pilot
Heat, terror and cold fire
Burn indelibly
Birthing specialties
Like alcoholism, addiction
mental illness
Homecoming meant shunning
Insomnia,
Welcoming darkness
Homelessness
Ending it all
They were once
The boys of summer who could smile
Love and trust
And who
Lost something along the way.
2014
Dedicated to Vietnam combat veterans