NPM 2026: Progressive Poem

Welcome to the 2026 National Poetry Month's Progressive Poem. Inside The Land of Poetry, you will discover the magic of words coming alive. You will also uncover poetic elements and enjoy vivid imagery as you stroll through each line created by the 15 Progressive Poem poets who added their lines before me. 

It is now Day 16, my turn to add a line. I pause after reading and rereading stanza 4 of my colleague's lines. I ponder how I should tackle the last line of stanza 4. The right rhyme is key to following a pattern noted in the previous stanzas. A memorable statement seems important for those standing in front of the bandstand in Frost Forest. A spark evolves. I hope my line brings clarity for my poet friend, Robyn Hood Black, who will add the next line.

The Land of Poetry

On my first trip to the Land of Poetry,
I saw anthologies of every color, tall as buildings.
A world of words, wonder on wings, waiting just for me!
Birding for words shimmering, flecked in golden gilding.

Binoculars ready, I toured boulevards and side streets
exploring vibrant verses, verses so honest and tender,
feathery lyrics, bright flitting avian athletes
soaring ‘cross pages in rhythmic splendor.

In the Land of Poetry, I am the conductor,
seeking oodles of poems that tug at my heart,                        a musical medley of sound and structure,                                 an open mic in Frost Forest! Wonder who'll take part?

There's a pause in the program; no one takes the stage
the trees quiver, the audience looks up. Raven lands,            singing Earth's message of the sage.                                        "Poetry in motion will be forevermore, from forests to sands."

_____________________________________

Credits: Irene Latham created the idea of a Kidlit Progressive Poem during National Poetry Month, Margaret Simon organized the Progressive Poem and created a lovely logo. Tabatha Yeatts created the colorful Land of Poetry map, and Donna Smith added the location names, followed by Heidi Mordhorst. Stanza 4 colleagues, Linda Mitchell, Jone MacCulloch, and Joyce Uglow, offered a mid-poem surprise.

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Below, you will find the names of poetry friends who contribute their lines for the Progressive Poem. 

April 1 Tabatha Yeatts at  The Opposite of Indifference
April 2 Cathy Stenquist at A Little Bit of This and That
April 3 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 5 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 6 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 7 Ruth Hersey at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town
April 8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 9 Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
April 10 Janet Clare Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
April 11 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry
April 12 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 13 Linda Mitchell at Another Word Edgewise
April 14 Jone MacCulloch at Jone Rush MacCulloch
April 15 Joyce Uglow at Storied Ink
April 16 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 17 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 18 Michele Kogan at More Art for All
April 19 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
April 20 Buffy Silverman
April 21 Irene Latham at Live Your Poem
April 22 Karen Edmisten
April 23 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 24 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 25 Tanita Davis at Fiction, instead of Lies
April 26 Sharon Roy at Pedaling Poet
April 27 Tracey Kiff-Judson at Tangles and Tails
April 28 Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference

Halloween 2023 Memories

  Where there is no imagination, there is no horror!   

  Arthur Conan Doyle   

It's Halloween and the world is a children's playground on this particular day. All the Disney princesses, Marvel characters, and clever homemade costumes appear in schoolyard parades or after-school trick-or-treating. I miss the razzle-dazzle fun of  Halloween dress-up time when I was a reading specialist and a districtwide administrator. Those were the days of Halloween magic!

Now, to satisfy my undying devotion to Halloween fun, I create scenarios that feed my inner Halloween spirit. Eery nightmares let my imagination fly. I wake up trying to decipher what I saw during the night but it all vanishes at daylight. So what do I do? Decorating inside and outside the house, baking treats (no tricks), putting together family costumes, and snapping photos for posterity complete my mission to let creative juices flow. Below are two digitized photo memories from last weekend's Halloween party. Which one do you like best?

skeptical looks rise

withered appearances

quite a surprise

but perseverance

helps families survive

©CVarsalona, 2023

My grandgirls are intrigued with Halloween teeth.

mirror, mirror

on the wall...

©CVarsalona, digital art, 2023

👻

Word of the Day Fun

  phantasmagoria  

float around my dreams

causing dysphoria

I wake to screams

need sweet euphoria

for nonspooky happenings

that autumn delightfully brings

©CVarsalona, 2023

👻

The clock is ticking. After a fun Halloween with my grandgirls, I join the Two Writing Teachers community of spirited educators.  I slip in before midnight ready to read a few slices before bedtime. I wonder where my imagination will take me tonight.

    Happy Halloween!    

Enter If You Dare!

WELCOME 
to the HALLOWEEN EDITION
of Beyond LiteracyLink

In the words of William Shakespeare, there's
Double, double, toil and trouble; 
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!
here...

Imagine This!

The mansion door slowly creeks open. Double

Trouble enters in double

time with Fret and Toil.

Find your seats, goblins, and
don't cause trouble.

Blazing fire,
sunset sky, burn
bright and

wonder why. Caldron
 bubble!

It's time to try my tasty rubble!
👻
EEK!
What do you see?
Skull Stew, it might be!
RUN!
👻 
You are invited to

create with me for the spooktacular Halloween section of
Autumn Ablaze Gallery. 

Have fun! 

I'm off to the Poetry Friday Halloween Party at Friendly Fairy Tales. Our gracious host is Brenda Davis Harsham. 

NOTE: I digitized Linda Baie's original sunset photo to create a mood of expectation for the Halloween festivities. If you look closely at the digital, you can find hidden images. (Clue: There are four.)

Going Wild

Have you ever just wanted to throw caution to the wind and go wild? I decided that it was time for me to take a complete departure from the serious side of life:

• to create a throw back post that celebrates all that is fun and whimsical
• to discard worries and to do lists just for the pure joy of creating

and finally to get those dancing feet stomping to the tunes of the 60s when wild was the rage. 

I am here tonight to celebrate with the creative poet Irene Latham who asked her blogging friends to sparkle their blog posts and set sail on a wild adventure. 

Why?

...because it is Irene's 10 year Blogiversary and wild is her 2015 One Little Word. 

I listened (my one little word) to the call of the wild and said, 

"Why not throw caution to the wind" 

so I'm sending a Going Wild Celebration Wish for Irene

and linking up at her site, Live Your Poem.

Feeling wild and free

I throw caution to the wind,

letting my spirit fly high above the sea.

JOIN ME THERE!