National Poetry Month: What Writing a Poem a Day for All of April is Really Like

All of the considerations for my first go-around as a poet.

While most poets likely look forward to April, ie. National Poetry Month, because it gives them an excuse to kick their poetry writing and sharing into overdrive, I was incredibly nervous. In an attempt to both write more poetry, and grow my following on my poetry Instagram, I decided to participate in the Poem A Day challenge. It’s exactly what it sounds; you post one poem per day every day for the entire month of April in celebration of the month. 

I’m not sure what other poets do, but for me, this meant writing a new poem every single day. I could’ve shared previously-written works, but I wanted to challenge myself, and I don’t want to share too much of my upcoming book before it releases. For poets who are used to writing every day, this would have been a breeze. But for me, it was all new. I was afraid of running out of ideas less than a week in, and while I managed to get a poem out of myself every single day, I definitely lost steam about two weeks in. But let’s talk about it.

Goals for my Campaign

Ultimately, I had three overarching goals for my campaign:

• Increase follower count (with real, organic followers)

• Get into a consistent writing groove

• Observe, observe, observe! 

Obviously, everyone who embarks on this journey is looking to increase their follower count; it’s how our poetry gets read! But as I started out with only 25 followers, as my account is newer, it was imperative for me to get some engagement going that wasn’t just my family and close friends. Don’t get me wrong; I endlessly appreciate their support, but I also needed to find real, organic followers who are likely to buy my book and contribute to my audience. I wanted to know who I’m writing for!

When it comes to a writing groove, I’ve never had one; I’ve simply written things down as I observe them. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this strategy of course. But I wanted to accomplish two things: one, I want to write my second book a little faster than my first one, which will require some sort of consistency. And two, I want to ensure that my writing sessions are productive and actually relieving feelings as well as teaching me something; after all, the writing process is not completely about selling books. 

As this year was my first year writing daily poems for National Poetry Month, I had a lot of observing to do. What content does my audience like? What content do I like to write/what comes easy to me? How do I want my feed to look? What does engagement look like and does engagement change if I post at different times of the day? How does my Instagram engagement differ from my Pinterest engagement?

Strategies for Keeping up with Demand

My biggest fear was that I was going to run out of ideas and I would have to start posting previously-written content, which I really didn’t want to do. But throughout the month, I fell into different strategies that I found worked best for me: 

• If I’m stuck, start off by writing about how I’m feeling that day/the thoughts at the front of my mind

• Use holidays or other national days as a topic and write from my perspective

• Utilize other Instapoets, Pinterest poets, and books I’ve purchased throughout the month to provide my take on a topic someone else has written or mimic a style someone else has used

These strategies actually provided more than enough inspiration for me for the month. They were also great methods for helping me express myself through my poetry and therefore solidifying my writer’s voice, as well as helping me discover other great contemporary poets that I’d like to keep up with. 

Results of the Campaign

• Instagram followers more than doubled (I went from 25 followers to over 50)

• Initiated the campaign on Pinterest, resulted in multiple saves

• Discovered how I work in terms of editing a poem and setting time aside to write

• Starting to get a feel for the topics my audience likes to see from me (unexpected)

• I’ve discovered where my poetry knowledge is lacking, and have purchased a variety of poetry collections from authors I’d like to read as well as poetry writing guides

The results the campaign yielded were much more than I originally anticipated, because I even met goals that I didn’t know I had. Number-wise, my engagement on both Instagram and Pinterest was incredible; I more than doubled my Instagram followers, and my poems have been saved multiple times on Pinterest, which I’ve never been able to do before!

I also learned a lot about my capabilities. I don’t have any formal education in poetry, so this campaign really helped me see that I need to read more poetry, and that I could also benefit from buying some poetry guides or instruction materials. And because I was becoming more familiar with other authors throughout the campaign process, I found some really great poetry guide books. 

And most unexpectedly, I could already see patterns in the topics that my current audience likes to see, even though my follower count is low. I noticed that my engagement is up when I write feminist pieces or more passionate pieces about my inner feelings. In discovering this, I can adjust my writing sessions so that I’m setting myself up to produce profound work. For me, this means taking my time, writing for fun, and editing my pieces before posting (which I often neglect doing).

Overall Thoughts

I will definitely be participating in this next year as well, as I think it was an instrumental strategy for checking in on where my skills and audience are. As my skills and audience will change and grow over the year, I see this being a very illustrative tool. 

I’m also glad that I noted what strategies work for me, as I tend to struggle with coming up with topics and writing pieces that I’m proud of. But I’m happy to say that I’ve written poems that I’m incredibly happy with, and I’m already liking my second book more than my first one (that’s always the way, isn’t it). 

I’m going to start setting time aside weekly to write, as I’ve fallen in love with writing again. School made writing difficult for me because my teachers always had something to say, but I’ve finally settled on a genre that I really enjoy writing and have produced work that I’m proud enough of that I want the world to see it.

Poems I’m Most Proud Of

Writing poems for National Poetry Month daily is hard. But I have never produced writing I’m so proud of. These poems are my favorite from the month, and will be found in my second book. 

The Female Condition

I awoke to the rumbling of the earth today, 

Her tears are flooding the shores, 

Her rage prompting heartbroken tremors. 

Boundary lines continually crossed, the 

Faults of man all but forgotten, 

As one plate slides over another 

The same way he slides past me at the bar 

While putting his hands on my back. 

She knows the female condition better than us all. 

It’s time we heed her warning; 

It’s unwise to resist powerful women. 

The difference between her quaking and mine, 

Is that I quale when I am afraid, 

And she quakes to remind us of her strength. 

What Do We Do When the Sun and Moon Divorce

There was a wedding in the sky today. 

White sun beams out from behind the clouds

Formed a heavenly satin skirt. 

A church steeple basked in the setting glow. 

Two lovers embraced on a bridge high above my head. 

A fleeting sunshower poured, 

And bid their union good luck. 

As they left the church, the clouds

Were fluffy and orange, 

As if Heaven and Hell were battling for

Control of the sky. 

I guess marriage is like that for some. 

Fuck the Patriarchy

One day I’ll go from saying 

“It’s okay, I understand,” and 

“Let me help you with that” to 

“You really hurt me” and 

“I’m not your mother.”

One day I won’t be the token female 

Friend who also doubles as your

Therapist. You’ll have to hear me

Complain today. 

One day I’ll defy your every expectation, 

And you’ll have to grin and bear it for once. 

I keep my nails long because it’s more

Feminine, but today I’ve also painted them red

So the patriarchy won’t miss it when

I flip them the bird. 

As Above, so Below

On the days when you catch a glimpse of

Yourself in the mirror and you don’t 

Recognize who you see, you must

Ask yourself where the sand levels in

The divine hourglass lie. 

I watched in awe as the great plane 

Soaring above raced me to the same point

On the horizon line, 

Just to wonder who I’d be when I got there. 

Before we begin our journey across the Styx

We must consider whether the sky’s 

Reflection on the river will be red or gold. 

As above, so below is not just a verse, 

It’s a reminder. 

Shiny Things

I drove through the Floridian wastelands today

Watching the cows go by, thinking about the

Ring I want on my finger and the man I think

Is best suited to do the job. 

Cutting all my hair off was a mistake, 

As was letting him leave, 

But the difference is my hair will grow back, 

But he’ll never grow up. 

It only makes sense that a strange place

In which cows and alligators coexist 

Encourages such a chaotic train of thought;

And it only becomes more jumbled when 

Both the cotton candy sunset and the

Sweat pooling in my knee-pits distract me 

From my thoughts in opposite ways. 

Back country has never been the place for me

Because my thighs chafe too much to ever 

Belong there, but if your knee sank into the

Swamp with a vintage emerald cut in a 

Velvet box I’d go anywhere with you.