Reviewing April PAD: Best of the Month?

As I mentioned, I was very pleased to be able to write 54 poems during National Poetry Month. I found that starting my writing time first thing in the morning was the best strategy, before the drudge of chores and the (demanding) blessing of caring for young granddaughters began. There's also a lot to be said for writing while you're still fresh and rested. Most days I had something at least started by 8:30 a.m. (Maybe I should continue that strategy.) I also found that I was leaning heavily toward humorous poetry and light verse throughout the month. I think it's because of the dire political events of the last 6 months or so - I feel a need to laugh to keep from crying.  When I wrote "Trumpericks", a batch of half a dozen satirical limericks about Donald Trump, a Facebook poet friend said, "Didn't that feel therapeutic?" Yes, it did.

I presume Robert Lee Brewer of Poetic Asides will once again ask participants in his PAD challenge to submit up to five of the best poems they wrote in April, so he can announce his picks for the best of the year. (Once again, I regret having so little time to read other poets' work, but there was some really good poetry to be found in connection with both blogs, so maybe i can spend more time now to discover it.)  Last year I made his top 21, and I would love to be a finalist again this year.

So to help you out a little, so you don't have to slog through 30 days of blog posts, here are what I consider my best five poems of this April:


[two poems deleted]

April 28:

Ode-iferous

Now what the hell?

What is that smell?

We know it well.

It’s really vile

and gross as bile,

and lasts a while

and spreads a mile.

You stripy ghost,

unwilling host

who reeks the most,

you lift your trunk

and spray your junk

at any punk

who gives you bunk,

then we must dunk

ourselves and sluice

tomato juice,

head to caboose,

to try and loose

the stink that’s in

our hair and skin.

You black-and-white

child of the night,

we will not fight

lest we lose sight

of your foul might,

and your alacrity

with unsatisfactory

things olfactory.

Pepé Le Pew,

we don’t hate you,

but for now, adieu.

You do have spunk –

don’t  be in a funk,

or we’ll be sunk

and get a chunk

of eau de skunk.

April 29:

A Metric Poem

We sometimes run kilometers

(5K is popular here).

We drink our Coke in liters,

and water, but not beer.

We briefly employed Celsius

(also known as Centigrade)

to tell just how hot we were,

but that trend began to fade.

We are a land of miles and feet,

and we're mostly metric-free.

If you're looking for a meter,

you'll still find it in poetry.

And yet, that's not quite true of Frost,

who talked of promises kept,

but not kilometers he must go

before he finally slept.

April 20:

Romance, Anyone? (Formerly titled "Tennis, Anyone?")

My task is to court you.
I’m serving you compliments
but you just lob them back.
This back-and-forth doesn’t seem
to net me anything so far.
Maybe I need more topspin.
We’re playing singles now,
not mixed doubles.
This game seems to go on
forever. You’re set in your ways,
and I seem no match for you.
What’s your racket?
I’m already past thirty, love,
but I’ll keep smashing away.
Maybe I’ll ace it,
maybe I ‘ll double-fault,
but you are worth the effort.
It should be no surprise
that “volley” is an anagram
for “lovely." 

Rounding out my top 10:
War of Words (Apr. 4)
Once in the Middle of a Time (Apr.15)
Marginalia (Apr. 24)
The Agnostic's Sunday (Apr. 30) 
10 Ways of Hearing a Thunderstorm (Apr. 6)

Anyway, those are my picks. As most poets and writers know, your favorites are usually the ones you just wrote, so my opinions of these will undoubtedly change over time. If you wish, you may scan my daily blogs from April to see if there are any you like better,or maybe you already read some you like better. In either case (or even if you just like these), thanks for reading!