There have been a few requests to remove poems from the blog for the month of April, because the poets don't want their first drafts published online (for fear their future drafts' chances of publication may be compromised, since the earlier version is online already).

I may be able to accommodate these requests globally (by wiping out poems after the judging is over), but I want to gauge the interest in having this happen. So, if you're among those interested in removing your poems so that your poems aren't considered published on the blog, please let me know in the comments below.

I think these requests have merit, but I just want to check out the interest before I have a programmer look into doing a mass removal of comments for the 30 prompt days.

I've been super busy this past weekend (haven't slept in nearly 24 hours now, in fact) working on Writer's Market. Started checking my e-mail this morning to learn that Rich Atwater is trying to put together some kind of color poem anthology that includes his epic "Rebirth of Colors" poem.

In fact, some poets contacted me very concerned that Rich was trying to steal their poems. I don't think that's what Rich is trying to do; I do think he's trying to get signed permissions to publish poets' color poems along with his epic poem. However, he needs your permission to actually publish your poem. So, it's a personal decision you'll have to make.

Some poets will be all for it, and that's fine. It's good to share your work (I mean, that's what we've been doing all month, right?). In my own case, I will not be giving Rich permission to print my poem or claim that his book is affiliated with Poetic Asides.

This isn't because I don't support other poets promoting poetry in their own ways. It has more to do with we've already got a challenge and an eBook and guest judges (who are volunteering their time) and guest screeners (who are also volunteering their time). And I've just got my own plans for my own writing.

This post is not meant to rain on Rich's parade. It's just to let the poets, who are concerned about their rights, know that they have the power to determine what they want to do with their work. Want to be part of Rich's project? Great. Don't want to be a part of it? That's fine, too.

In the end, as with all issues of publication, it's a personal choice.

Sorry for the late posting time this morning. Computer issues. In fact, I hope this attempt to post actually goes through before it crashes again. :)

For today's prompt, I want you to write a travel-related poem. It can be human travel, the migration of swallows, the trafficking of drugs, etc. Some sort of movement from point A to point B.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Should"

Fog fills the valley
so that he can't see
her little village. She
should be making her
way to him, but he
won't know until she
does. He imagines
her determined face,
body bent forward
and legs still moving.
Just then, a bird
lifts out of the fog
and on out of sight.

After today's poem, we'll just be a week away from completion! Can you dig it? I don't know if you're the same as I am, but I've found doing this prompts actually encourages me to write more during the month. I've probably written at least 30-40 first draft poems and/or random lines for poems that aren't posted on the blog. It's like each morning's prompt and poem is a jumpstart to thinking for the rest of the day.

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem of regret. Get creative with this one, but there should be some form of regret either expressed or hinted at (even if ever so slightly). You do NOT have to use the word "regret" in the poem, though it's fine if you do.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"The Stupid Things We Do"

Where to go from here:
Keys locked in the car
with her 2-year-old
strapped in his seat and
crying himself red
with her new cell phone
in center console,
she knows she cannot
enter her house with
out breaking windows
or abandoning
her little baby.

For today's prompt, I want you to write a work-related poem. Work doesn't have to be the main feature of the poem, but I want you to "work" it in somehow. And remember: There are different types of work. Of course, there are the activities that gain you fortune and fame (or not), but then, there's also housework, exercise, volunteering, etc. I'm sure you'll "work" it out.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Dream job"

In the dream, he can't open his eyes
or his e-mail messages. The dream
dictionary he bought at the thrift
store has no answers; but, in his dream,
he also almost won a prize, which
suggests he'll almost be successful
in his current endeavors. Maybe
more important: Why was he shopping
at a thrift store anyway? He could
blame the economy or the price
of healthcare, but he really enjoys
hunting for discarded treasures--he'd
still haunt these stores even if he won
the lottery. In fact, he would still
work the same job that gives him nightmares,
because these things are the things he loves.

We're now 3 weeks into April! And to celebrate, we get a 2-for-Tuesday prompt. Hurrah!

Here are the two prompts for the day (you only need to choose one, unless you're all about pushing yourself to the limit):

1. Write a haiku. The haiku is not just a form but a genre of poetry. (Click here to read more about the haiku.) People sometimes go into writing a haiku and end up with a senryu or a faux-ku, but it's all good (and all poetry).

2. Write about the haiku. I know there are some poets (in this very group even) who are anti-form. So, I'm giving them the option to write their anti-haiku manifestos. Of course, if you pay attention to this 2nd prompt, it doesn't need to be anti-haiku; your poem could be questioning or even praising the haiku. Or something.

Here's my attempt for the day:

Flower blossoms
covering the car hood;
hidden bird poop.

I apologize for the problem some people were having yesterday with posting their poems. I think it is fixed now, because I was just able to successfully leave a comment on Day 18.

Perhaps appropriately, today's prompt is to write an angry poem. That is, a poem about someone or something that gets angry. Could be a person, animal, or even them there angry clouds. As usual, I'm excited to see which unexpected directions y'all take with this prompt.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Stepson"

He is always angry when he returns
from his father's house. But I can't say why
or if it's just normal from taking turns.
He is always angry when he returns!
After a day, he loses his concerns
and is once again happy. Little guy,
he's always so angry when he returns
from his father's house, though I can't say why.

After today's poem, we'll be 60% of the way through this challenge. Woo-hoo!

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem with an interaction of some sort. The interaction does NOT have to be between people, though it can. For instance, you could write about the interaction between a bee and a flower; or an owl and a field mouse. Or just write about a traffic cop getting into an argument with a speeder. Just as long as there is some sort of interaction going on.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Only Gets Worse"

I watch the boys run around
the new playground. Another
father approaches me and
says, "Kids," chuckling to himself.
I don't know how to respond,
so I don't. "Yeah, my little
one--that girl in the green
dress--she's a handful for
sure." I never understand
why some people feel the need
to talk about nothing when
there's nothing to talk about.
He exhales a long sigh,
"Yeah, her mother's a bitch."
He waves gnats away from
his face with his hand. "How
long you been married?" He
apparently hasn't noticed I haven't
been communicating, and he obviously
doesn't care, because he says,
"It only gets worse," and
then adds, "It only gets worse."
He waves away some more gnats,
takes his leave of me, and
makes his way to a single mom
on the other side of the play
area. She watches him approach,
clutches at her purse, and
smiles nervously when he laughs.

Wow! Yesterday was quite a workout. Not only did I go for a hard 5-mile run, but I think we did about a million Easter egg hunts (give or take a few hundred thousand). Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm "feeling it" today, in terms of writing a poem. But that's what makes a challenge a challenge is to get up and write regardless. Doing so puts me in a position to be ready to write when I am "feeling it."

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem that incorporates a hobby (either yours or someone else's). That's right: Now is the perfect opportunity to write about your comic collection or your scrapbooking activities. And for the purposes of this challenge, I also think activities such as fishing, running, bowling, photography, birding, and gardening count as hobbies.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"We wake up in the morning"

while the grass is still wet with dew,
and we all launch our drivers--
some ending up on the fairway,
others in the rough. Then, we pick
up our discs and throw again
and again. We aim for the chains
we want to rattle. We ramble
on about near misses and how we're
kicking butt or getting our butts kicked.
Eventually, we finish the first course

and drive on to the next. By now,
the morning is warming, and we're
hitting our targets. Eagle, Stingray,
Beast, Aviar--our brightly colored
discs fly through the air. Some of us
under par; others over. Finally, we stop
for lunch. We talk about the day, how
we need to do this more often. Then,

we drive on to the next course. Repeat
the cycle. And then the next course. And
finally, we get to the fifth and final
challenge of the day. We line up behind
the tee pad as the sun slants westward.
We squint, wind up, and let our discs fly.
Some of us wear out during this last course--
our discs not traveling as far, not hitting
their marks. But there's always one
who digs deeper, though just as tired,
and drives from basket to basket, trying
hard as possible to beat the evening.

Yay! We're 40% of the way through the challenge (after finishing today's poem). That's right! We're almost to the half-way point. Woo-hoo!

For today's prompt, I want you to take the phrase "So we decided to (blank)" and fill in the blank. Make that your title and write a poem. Some possibilities include "So we decided to plant a tree" or "So we decided to burn a hole in the sky."

Here's my attempt for the day:

"So we decided to keep writing"

Only a pen and outdated business cards,
but a Mexican clown (with face paint
and rhinestone vest) sang in Spanish
that made me feel he felt something
universal. Plus, I was waiting on Tammy
to bring back a pineapple smoothie,
so I took notes (red cap, black hair,
tip jar, food court, powdered sugar
all over my table and self). Maybe
I should learn a new language, wear
leather boots and cowboy hats, tint
the windows on my Kia Spectra, and
get Tammy to wear fake gold chains
and hoochie jeans. Maybe we should
check with the Pendergrass Flea Market
palm reader. Or maybe the point of
getting out of the apartment isn't
to change ourselves but to observe
others and write every detail down.

Sorry for the late post today. I've had family visiting from Ohio the last few days, and they were all leaving this morning. So, you know, us Brewers can take our time saying our good-byes and getting things together and everything. ;)

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For today's prompt, I want you write a poem about a memory. The memory can be good or bad. The memory can be a blend of several memories. I suppose it could even be a memory that you're not sure you remember correctly. Take your time finding a good one (or good ones).

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Climbing Stone Mountain"

First, we found the park;
then, we found the parking lot.

Next, we caught the trail;
then, we caught our breath.

She was afraid to look in;
I was afraid to look out.

The wind was cold on top;
the sun was warm at the bottom.

If you haven't done so yet, I just wanted to mention that you can sign up for a free monthly newsletter from Poet's Market (edited by yours truly) by going to www.poetsmarket.com and entering your e-mail address in the little field provided for e-mail updates. It's a good way to keep up with what's going on in Poet's Market, as well as this blog, and it's free!

*****

Also, I'm going to be interviewed tonight at 8 p.m. (Pacific) on J.P. Dancing Bear's "Out of Our Minds" poetry program on KKUP Cupertino. We'll be talking poetry and discussing the April PAD Challenge.

*****

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem about either a specific routine or routines in general. Maybe something related to taking out the trash each week or washing the dishes every night--or something more bizarre (yet still a routine).

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Routine"

Each morning, I wake up and weigh myself,
thinking that a prompt and poem won't come
today. I look at the books on my shelf,
but my brain still feels permanently numb

thinking that a prompt and poem won't come.
I search for poetic forms to assume,
but my brain still feels permanently numb.
It comes down to triolet or pantoum--

this search for poetic forms to assume.
Both offer rhymes and some repetition:
It comes down to triolet or pantoum.
I choose without hope or expectation.

Both offer rhymes and some repetition.
Today, I look at the books on my shelf
and choose without hope or expectation--
each morning, waking up to weigh myself.

After we finish today's poem, we'll be a full week into April. Go us!

Today is our first "Two for Tuesday" prompt of the month. On these days, I offer two prompts. Don't worry: You don't need to write a poem for each prompt (but you're more than welcome to if you feel up to the challenge).

Prompt #1: I want you to write a clean poem. Take this however you wish. Clean language, clean subject matter, or cleaning the dishes. Of course, some twisted few will automatically link "cleaning" with hired hitmen. That's okay, as long as your poem is somehow linked to clean.

Prompt #2: I want you to write a dirty poem. Take all that stuff I wrote in the first prompt and twist it upside down. The opposite of clean is dirty; so, do what ya gotta do to produce a dirty poem. (Gosh, I hope this challenge doesn't get too messy as a result.)

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Mornings"

They always start clean. Two
bodies side-by-side. Arm
draped over hip, voices
whispering about dreams
they did or did not have
the night before. And then,
things always seem to work
out in such a way that
the sheets are on the floor
and both need a shower.

All right, folks! After today, we'll be 20% of the way through this challenge! And you're all kicking some major booty, because I think y'all posted as many poems through the first 5 days as we did in all of April last year. Great job, and let's keep at it!

For today's poem, I want you to write a poem about something missing. It can be about an actual physical object or something you just can't put your finger on (like "love" or "the spirit of Christmas" or something).

Here's my attempt for the day:

"The Photographer"

She introduces herself and gathers
the whole party up before and after
the ceremony. She wears a nylon
sleeveless, patterned shirt and black
leggings with a little lace near her
ankles. Her dark brown hair is highlighted
blond and she straightens her back
as one pair after the other walks
down the aisle. Her fingers are covered
in rings, but she isn't married. Instead,
she chews gum and holds her camera
close to her face, ready to brighten
the church with her flash. She doesn't
smile or tear up, her face serious and
clinical. It's not until she's saying
goodbye to the woman in her white
dress that she allows herself to smile.

So I'm excited that some of our April PAD Challenge participants will have a chance to be featured in a well-designed eBook. The purpose of this project is not to exclude participants but to shine light on some of the very good poetry that happens on this blog in April. If you were here last year, you know what I mean.

Well, here's how the April PAD Challenge eBook is going to work. I'm going to make the deadline for consideration at midnight on April 30 (whether you're posting a poem to Day 1, Day 30, or sometime between). At that point, I'm going to go through each day (possibly with the help of my amazingly awesome wife and poet, Tammy) and select a Top 5 for each day.

(Note: As you know, a Top 5 in poetry is very, very subjective. And if this year is anything like last year, there is bound to be a ton of great poems each and every day. So please don't have any bruised feelings if you're not in this group.)

So, I choose a Top 5 each day. 5 poems per day X 30 days = 150 poems, right? But only the Top 50 poems during the month will appear in the eBook. And this is how we'll narrow it down:

* I'll be passing a group of Top 5 poems for each day to a guest judge (list below). That guest judge will pick a favorite from the Top 5 list to be the top of the day. So that'll take care of 30 of the 50 poems.

* I'll then pick out 20 from the 120 remaining poems. That'll get us to 50 poems.

Last year, more than 400 poets submitted more than 4,000 poems. So I definitely want y'all to know just how exceptional these 50 poems poems will be. And that those who are selected should feel proud, and those who aren't should feel just as good about themselves.

Apart from making it into the eBook, all those who complete the April PAD Challenge this year should receive a certificate of completion and badge for their websites/blogs (as we did last year). Plus, you should be able to make plenty of new friends (as we did last year).

So, here's the very distinguished list of judges (who are all volunteering their time and effort to the cause for free):

* Seth Abramson
* Sandra Beasley
* Shaindel Beers
* Mary Biddinger
* Jericho Brown
* Edward Byrne
* Sage Cohen
* J.P. Dancing Bear
* Jim Daniels
* Mark Doty
* Annie Finch
* Nick Flynn
* Jeannine Hall Gailey
* Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
* Vince Gotera
* S.A. Griffin
* Tom C. Hunley
* Collin Kelley
* Amy King
* Dorianne Laux
* Alex Lemon
* Reb Livingston
* Diane Lockward
* Marilyn Nelson
* Aimee Nezhukumatathil
* Chad Prevost
* Don Share
* Martha Silano
* Patricia Smith
* Anne Tardos

If I were running a literary journal, I would be overwhelmed with joy to have these fine poets published within my pages. To have them volunteering their time to help us out here is a great honor. (And if you want to learn more about them, just click on their names above.)

I won't be revealing which days they're going to judge (even to the judges themselves) until after the April 30 midnight deadline. I have several reasons for this--not least among them that I want poets to focus on writing a poem-a-day in April (as opposed to writing only on particular days). Hey, I'll be writing every day; you should, too, right?

Anyway, I'm super excited, and I hope you are as well.

Soooo... What was that special updated news about the April PAD Challenge I was hinting at during yesterday's prompt? What got me all excited? Well...

My awesome writing community leader here at F+W has given the green light on making an eBook anthology for the top 50 poems from the April PAD Challenge. This eBook will be designed by our F+W design team and will be made available for free to anyone and everyone. Isn't that awesome?!?

The eBook will include 50 poems (30 poems will be the top poem from each day's prompt; the other 20 poems will be the best of the rest). And yes, I don't mean to say that the 50 poems in the eBook will literally be the best, since that's super subjective, but it will be 50 excellent poems from the many, many, many that are part of the challenge.

But wait! Could it get even better?

This morning, pondering making the announcement of the eBook, I thought, Hey! I wonder if I could gather some guest judges to judge each day's top poem. Hmm...

Soooo, long-story short: I've already lined up 10 guest judges with 20 more to come. As soon as I have all 30 judges (for 30 days) confirmed, I'll send around another update that lists them.

I didn't think I could be even more excited about this year's challenge than last year's, but... Wow!

We'll still be offering the certificate and badge to people who complete the 30-day challenge. And I'll send around complete rules when we get even closer to April, but I just wanted to share the awesomely amazing news!

As you probably noticed in yesterday's prompt, it's time to start gearing up for the April PAD (Poem-A-Day) Challenge. Yesterday afternoon, I received confirmation on a very, very exciting new wrinkle for the challenge. I'll be sharing that announcement tomorrow. (Don't you love teasers?)

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For today's prompt, I want you to take the phrase "Why I Don't (blank)" and fill in the blank. Then, make that your title. From there, write a poem. Some possibilities include "Why I don't look both ways," "Why I don't tie my shoestrings," and "Why I don't watch the evening news." So many possibilities, so little time.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Why I don't ride roller coasters"

Two men walk into a bar, but one was
blind. He had an excuse; the other just
followed blindly. The lines stretch forever
at amusement parks, and I love to watch
the people as they wait and wander from
one ride to another. My brothers both
love them. But I can stand in line and think
of rusty bolts loosening, scattering
several screaming thrillseekers across
the earth. I'm not a thrillseeker. They would
have an excuse. I'm just that other guy.