2026 NaPM 6 April

[RiverNotch]

Write a poem for National Poetry Month based on the topic described....rather, write a poem set in, pertaining to, or inspired by the given region, whether its entirety or just some part of it, as this year's prompts are going to be unified by the theme "Around the World" like last year's prompts were unified by the theme "Esoterica". Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. There are three levels of participation:

Bronze. Participated at least once.

Silver. Participated every day.

Gold. Participated every day, with all entries either being the same form (e.g., every one a sonnet) or being distinct forms (e.g., no two haiku).


Today's region is the Contiguous United States.

[Mark A Becker]

Under God

In order to separate us
from the godless communists,
those two simple words
were added to the US
Pledge of Allegiance in 1954-

the year I was born. It was
recited across the land
before each school day began.
Two years later In God We Trust
became the official motto

of the United States.
Somehow, we must have
believed these additions
would insulate, and protect
us, from ourselves.

---

contiguous

although we may share borders
we're walled off in our minds

we add to the disorder
by hiding behind signs

then call it law and order
when we draw the line

[dukealien]

Stars on a Field


Stand your ground, America, live your legend:
closed frontier of forty-eight, full, sufficient
for this world’s great wars and alarums, stars of
white and stars golden.

Continental, don’t spread incontinently–
precious, well-earned liberty’s yours to have and
hold, not hector foreigners with their own firm
notions of being.

Has time come now for a return to your wild
life of bold frontiering and conquest? No more
land remains but high above stars still beckon–
stars of white fire.

[CRNDLSM]

What happens next I'll never know
So happy in america
Inc., Ltd., LLC, Co....

A big financial enema
for presidential cinema 
that represents society
itself being the enemy

just sit back and enjoy the show
soon everything's a felony
and its too late to try to go.

[RiverNotch]

The Fountain of Youth


In Florida was this gift of God discovered
first by the peoples to whom the land was given
then by the peoples who through war and sickness

stole it: a drink which all those later founders
esteemed to grant them vigor, making them young
at heart and body, if not at mind and soul.

Rather, it proved the reverse. A single sip
and the vessel stays its course, gathering worms
while the crew is all replaced by mewling babes,

but how could the conqueror have learned all this
without experiment? Why should they trust
the word of beggared ghosts or beaten dogs?

And should a slave be risked to reach a state
for which the free repine? So thought the men
who first imbibed the fountain's blessed waters,

making immortal imbeciles of themselves:
a gloomy circle of gaunt and grey-haired figures
huddled around a pair of upturned gargoyles
that drool forever with divine revenge.

[ilovewomenandbeer]

Hunt

“Chee-yee”—
Barbed yells—
Pierce ye

Winter
Frontlines—
Ambush
Hibernating.

Armored skin
Under fur—
Bowed—
To take.

Smoke calls
To dens—
Pale rabbits
Suffocating.

Arrowheads
Pierce ye
As eyes
Take snow
They do so.

Dripping—
Crimson tears—
Into the blind.

[JohnS]

Chesapeake Bay

I step on deck to watch the dawn,
not a ripple stipples the bay,
when the morning mist has lifted
it'll be another fine day.

The forest wears its mantel
of gold and yellow and red,
for summer days have passed
giving way to autumn insted.

Delta-flights of Canada geese
return to their winter home,
on the bay cooler breezes are blowing,
sailboats are starting to roam.

Soon I'll up-anchor and journey
down to the islands and keys,
but next year I'll be here again
on this bay with its golden trees.

[Wjames]

School Trip

Eighth grade midnight red bull
polaroids on the bus
to New York.

Pizza, Broadway, Central Park,
pulling pranks and ripping farts
with a girl who thinks I'm smart,
smiling like a dog.