Last Poem of April

Today is the final day of April, and thus the last day of National Poetry Month. In addition, today is also "Poem in Your Pocket Day", and I celebrated it by reading a poem by my esteemed friend Kathryn Belsey, Kitty to those of us who love her, to both of my co-op writing classes at Class Day. I won't share the poem here because I do not have her permission, but the title is "The Beautiful Gate," and Acts 3:2 is printed at the top of the page. Sharing poetry with my students -- with anyone really -- is one of my favorite things to do, so I tackled the "Poetry in Your Pocket Day" challenge with great enthusiasm.

But with the end of National Poetry Month comes the end of the NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) and thus the end of my own challenge to post 30 new orginal poems on this blog. As of two days ago, I had published 29 poems, and here is my 30th and last. It's still quite rough, like all of the poems I've written and posted this month.

the last poem

an adventure
it has been,
composing daily,
turning my soul
upside down
and impatiently
shaking --
words and letters
cascading
onto the table.
i shift them
into place --
this one before,
this at the close,
trying to create
revelation
from my chaotic ideas.

at times success has come --
blushingly taking a bow
at the curtain call.
at times it has been elusive,
fluttering high above me,
just beyond reach --
teasing and tantalizing.

an adventure
it has been,
composing daily --
success and failure,
but mostly something in between --
tinged with pride and
considered "success"
simply in completion.

(c) 2009 Susanne Barrett