Day 1 #Napowrimo Contained

Over here on the west coast, it's still March, but #NationalPoetryMonth has begun on east coast time!

Here is my first poem of April in response to the prompt here:

Contained

My life, the sum of filling
a box. Assembled and paper
tape stretched across.
I place inside the objects of 
myself; heart, lungs, limbs. Box,
a vital organ growing bone, 
skeleton, frame; meat hung 
on butterflies of hips,
the pianos of rib cages.
Brown cardboard creased
like the angles of armpits.
Corrugated like physical
sound waves. The word 
box in my mouth, dry,
empty, my body a box:
My life contained
or ripped open with a knife.

#Napowrimo & #the100dayproject 2020

Hello all,

I'm back from 9 months of life! And it's my favorite time of year. In honor of poetry month, I will be writing a poem every day based off of the prompts provided at NaPoWriMo. Poetry month has become a yearly tradition from the very first time I began in 2015. And it's not just me. Every April millions of people participate in poetry centric events across the US and the world to celebrate poetry. It's an exciting time, but this year is going to be strange and different. The Coronavirus pandemic has cancelled all poetry groups, events, readings, and workshops. Meeting face to face with poets is a vital part of being a writer. We cannot live a siloed life. In order to improve and be better writers, we must learn from our peers, workshop, and commiserate.

Regardless, our latest technologies have afforded us the ability to host virtual groups and events. My fellow poet K. Szpekman and I have been workshopping our poems from afar and I've been participating in virtual Shut Up & Write Ins when ever I have time. All of this is essential to feel connected and to not feel like I'm living in a bubble. This year's poetry month is going to matter a lot more to the poetry community than other years. Not only do we have nothing else to do but to write, but we also must write to move beyond the fear and panic that has become our new norm. We must write as witness to our changing and turbulent world.

Our words matter and this April we will come together in a collaborative effort to witness.

Please join me starting April 1st and write or read a poem a day. I'll be posting my daily poem on this blog and linking it to the NaPoWriMo site.

I look forward to our poetry. Stay safe and healthy.

With love,

Brittany Mishra