HAPPIER MOMENTS
The following is poem number 13 of 2009’s NaPoWriMo – 30 poems in 30 days during the month of April. The original prompt was, “we’re happy they chose to…”. The first thing that came to mind was, “…open the windows”, which is how the hail arrived in the poem. The characters in the first stanza soon followed, and kept coming back with each draft.
HAPPIER MOMENTS
Fran calls to say her son stood up from his chair
for the first time in a month. She shares
that Helen with her nicotine teeth
finally cornered the priest about alms,
and Matt, fresh from the war, feels less numb
about the part of him that’s gone.
All of which rushes by in a gush of hail
that pounds the house – I’m moved to tears
by the news copter that went down last night,
how the crew washed safely to shore, cameras
aloft to capture their own rescue, klieg lights
and wives watching. When the paper shows
I carry its mascara headlines to the roof, wait
with the weather page as the forecast rolls in,
confused when it doesn’t then remember
to give it time.
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Tags: April Fools, NaPoWriMo 2009, national poetry writing month
