Hello Write Queeners,

I've decided that to keep blogging for at least once a month, I will write a monthly round up of my writing life. I will do it in the first week of every month, to give myself the opportunity to experience the previous month in its entirety (you never know what could happen at 11:58 PM on the last day of the month).

During April, I participated in the 30 poems in 30 days challenge. I've been a part of the challenge for five years. I was disappointed in myself last year when I didn't finish the 2012 challenge. It became a challenge when my part time temp job became a full time temp job with the opportunity to become permanent. Sometimes survival comes before creativity, but that didn't mean that I forgave myself easily for not finishing.

I was determined to finish this year. I saw opportunity in Instagram. Sometimes I didn't have time to write eloquent 40 line poems (did I even write a 40 line poem? ::ponders::). Instagram gave me the opportunity to jazz up smaller pieces, using original or found pictures and making a haiku a stronger image. Plus it gave me a new audience to introduce my writing to. I know that I gained new followers on Instagram, though I'm still trying to determine blog readership.

It was really fun and I found that even when I was posting late, that a pile of poems were building up because I was incorporating images and taking the time to find the right image for each poem. Sometimes I found a image, but had no poem. It gave me the motivation to write more. In a seemingly visual society, I found that my writing was a little more appreciated when the majority of my work was image based. I may have to rethink my approach on writing!

Overall it was a great challenge.

In relation to the 30/30 challenge, I had a whirlwind publication opportunity! My Day Five poem has been published in an anthology called "Old Hollywood". The poem was a part of a contest by Lady Chaos Press, a fairly new press by the lovely Shannon Lynette. I submitted my poem five days before the contest ended, which was on April 5th. By April 24th, she was already announcing that the book was out! I must remember to ask her (or simply interview her on the blog - how about it Shannon?) what her secret is to putting together a book so fast is.

The final update is about the writing group I am a part of. Hosted by Erica "Rivaflowz" Buddington, this monthly Write-In is a place for female writers of all genres to come together and talk about the thing we love the most: WRITING! Coupled with yummy food that either Erica has carefully picked out or cooked herself, a group of up to 15 women take the time to talk about what we have done in our writing lives during the past month. After that, for about 45 minutes, we retreat to various corners to write, using a prompt chosen for the meeting. 

After the 45 minutes, we go around and read our pieces, offering constructive criticism to improve the pieces and to rave about what we love about it. I'm often speechless because these ladies are amazing. Their input and encouragement to my work, even when I don't like the piece, puts things into perspective. Their own pieces make me want to throw my pen away because they have written masterpieces. I am blessed to be a part of this group.

So that is my April Update! Thank you for being a part of the Write Journey.

A gentle thirst sits
at the base of her lips,
lost in a criminal
tremble that threatens,
confess the interrogation of
his existence, in her reality.

Last night
I slept with laughter
in my eyes.

It rippled in the form of
tears, pooling at the edges
and dropping humanity
on my sheets -

Emotions soaked
everywhere
on the sheets
by morning.

"Line inferiority," art revealed.

That is the problem with poets. It is a fear that has been programmed into their fingertips. The fear of that one line not measuring up, making anything written before or after it, a failure.

The cure?

Lay your body on the ground poet. Murmur your confessions on the ghosts of soles that have drum passed this journey before. Plant a stream of words on the road less travelled and watch them grow into something all your own. Pick the wild ones and place them into a vase. Watch the hunger of beauty transform the tip of your pen.

Willingly undergoing
condemnation daily
to display the
absurdity of DNA.

I wait for Holy Consolation
to transform this
frequency of torment,
but am forced to
continue and relive
under this regime.

It's time for some computer generated poetry! This poem was made with the iPhone app, Spine Sonnet, a poem generator that uses the titles of art and architecture textbooks to make a sonnet. If you are an iPhone or iPad user, you can get the app here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spine-sonnet/id422871445?mt=8

(Sorry, the link feature isn't working on my Weebly app, it could have looked cleaner.)

For some reason, I can't get the last line in when I use the font in the second picture, no matter how many times I've resized it. Very frustrating. I had resort to changing the font after I posted on Instagram. Here is it is in plain text:

Cracked tongues
do not know
how to depart quietly.
They sputter loudly,
disjointed, cold.
The doc places bandages
on teeth to
heal the disaster
of good bye in that
brilliant plastic grin,
cheeks caved in.

There are no kings,
no signs of glory
in this acquisition of flame.

You burn me bright,
senses under siege.

You're not crowned,
but you rule over
these stressed hammer
strings that labor
over a set of lungs
in need of the memory to breathe.