Almost April

It's almost April 1.  And then the March SOL at Two Writing Teachers will be over... I hate quitting this fun cold turkey.  It is always a fun month of blogging and getting to know new bloggers and getting reacquainted with old friend-bloggers.  We only have two more days, can you believe it?

But then the A-to-Z Challenge begins.  I discovered that the second year into SOLC, that I didn't have to wander aimlessly around the blogosphere in April.  The SOLC had made a bit of a blogging addict out of me!  I went in search of the next adventure.

In this event, which runs throughout April (with time off on Sunday), posts are written to correspond with each letter of the alphabet on the assigned date. 
So A is on Friday, April 1;
B is on Saturday, April 2;
Sunday, April 3 is skipped;
Monday, April 4, is C
and Tuesday, April 5 is D...and so on to Z on the last day of the month.

I have signed up to do this a number of years now and have picked different themes for my blog posts.  Because it is Poetry Month, though, I've always written poems for each of the days, and I've even filled in on Sundays with a random poem, so I wouldn't miss a day of poetry.

For my first year, in 2012, I wrote a poem a day about an animal beginning with the specific letter.  I created a Tagxedo to go with it, and the poem itself had to be of a form beginning with the corresponding letter.  Here's a sample from 2012 on the "M Day":

Font: MKorsair

Theme: Miaka

Poetry Form:  Minute Poetry - Minute Poetry has 12 lines of 60 syllables written in iambic meter. Its format is 3 stanzas of 8,4,4,4 syllables each.  The rhyme is aabb, ccdd, eeff.

M is for Mouse

A tiny creature is a mouse

Who likes a house

And eats a crumb

To fill its tum.

It has a tail and tiny toes

A little nose,

Big eyes, some fur,

Small ears for sure.

It stays away from cats and hawks

Ignores door locks

Lives in the wall

Avoiding all.

© 2012 Donna J.T. Smith

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In 2013, I photographed local lobster boats, most overwintering on land, with names that corresponded to the letters, and wrote poems for them.  Here's B for Bucephalus:

"Bucephalus"

 Bucephalus

I champ at the bit,

A steed of the sea;

My race to the water

Is still yet to be.

I just need some paint,
The buoys do, too;
Get ready to roll
And rock on the blue.

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In 2014, I selected Maine authors and found book titles that began with each letter of the alphabet.  I took the title of each book and wrote a poem about the title (not the book itself).  Here's L from that year:

Lighthouse Lullaby

by Kelly Paul Briggs

Lighthouse Lullaby

What would I sing to a light house
if I had to sing a song?

What do the waves say to it
when they are crashing so strong?
I think that it would like to hear
soft murmurs from the stars
the sound of sand 

swish-swashing
as it swirls in to the land
I think a lighthouse would like
to hear
a tune of a conch’s shell
and maybe the faraway ringing
of a harbor’s channel bell

a lullaby for a lighthouse
would be like one for you or me
except that the sound of the singing
would be the soft, salty sound of the sea.

©Donna JT Smith, 2014

In 2015, I took pictures of interesting signage around the area.  Our Transfer Station did not disappoint:

Does your garbage make you grouchy?
Is your trash not up to par?
Bring it here, and we will match it,
Heave some more right in your car.

Is it something we have done
That destroyed your satisfaction?
Some minor imposition
Or a major league infraction?

It's our written guarantee
When you leave you should be happy
Or we'll have to give your trash back
And we'll double every scrappy.

You should always be contented
And take pride in what you toss
Or your one bag will be doubled -
Would you think that gain or loss?

©Donna JT Smith, 2015

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And now "ta-da!" - this is my fifth year participating.  I have a new theme for which, since fall, I have been collecting pictures.  In the process I have gotten to know stories behind some of the pictures I've taken.  There is nothing like having a "project" to get you involved with complete strangers.  I have been honored to be given the freedom to photograph my subject, and when able, to discuss with the owner their reason for choosing what they chose.

Again, I will be writing a poem a day.  On Friday, April 1, my post will begin with a picture, as usual, and there will be a poem, as usual, and they will all begin with the letter A...
My theme is... drum roll, of sorts here...
Vanity License Plates!

Yes, a license plate, from Maine, for each letter of the alphabet, and a poem to go with it.

I think I got the idea last spring from my own vanity plate, our first one ever.  I started taking pictures of license plates as soon as I thought of it.  If someone was still in their car, I'd approach them and tell them what I was doing and ask if they minded if I took their license plate's picture.  No one ever refused.  Of course, if they weren't in their car, then I just took it anyway.  How can you stop someone from snapping a photo?  If they were in the car, I supposed they could have run over me.  But no one did.  So it all worked out every time, all 26 times, plus all the extra times.  I took more than one of each letter, since I needed to write a poem for each, and wasn't sure what would strike me as poem-worthy on the day I needed to be creative.

I have prewritten a few poems and I've pre-scheduled each post already whether there is something written yet for the post or not.  It's just a help to get me started. 

There is still room on the list to add your name if you are interested.  It is a lot of fun and kind of eases you out of March SOL and into Spring!  I am number 1193 right now on the list.  As people drop out, or haven't participated and are removed from the list, your number changes.  The object is for everyone to visit other sites and get to know other bloggers.

From the SOLC and the A-to-Z Challenge, I have come to know so many wonderful bloggers.  This next challenge kind of takes the edge off the sudden change!  I'm still taking pictures... even today... just in case...  You just never know where a word will take you.