Thank you Kim, I love reading your insights. I will try NaPoWriMo again this year, last few times I tried I haven’t got to the end but I haven’t tried for a few years, I’ve been preferring to read other people’s. Time to get stuck in again. Love you ❤️❤️ and love you too Clare ❤️❤️
I love this poem Kim and what an ending! Also the Keith Leonard one- thanks for sharing and for your astute reflections on the inequality of responses to parenting!
Ha thanks Charlotte. The other thing that drove me mad was Park run - Chris would push Ally round in the pram so I could have a 30 minute run on my own and get loads of compliments and attention for doing so - did I get people cheering me when I pushed the pram the other 6 days of the week?? NO!
Sooo infuriating! but sadly so common- I feel your pain. My husband has been an utterly devoted father and i'm very grateful that he is but yes he gets disportional praise for it too!
This is very lovely and I relate so much to what you're saying,which is definitely a source of inspiration in itself. I once wrote a tiny poem on this very theme - it came to me in the shower 😂
Hi Caitlin, yes I think this is the beautiful thing about poetry - it can fit into those gaps! Prose I feel as if I have to have a bit more room for....
What a lovely post - I loved your abecedarian it reminded me when I was juggling writing as a mum with a baby & a toddler while doing a shadow TV writing scheme - a week before the deadline for script delivery they both got chicken pox. And now juggling again this time with work, health problems and the baby & toddler are teenagers with SEN going through GCSE's and A-Levels. Totally forgot NaPoWriMo so thanks for the reminder.
I love this poem, I think you're right the form really suits a parenting theme. I've never done napowrimo. I might give it a try as I've just finished a novel manuscript and need to get into a new headspace! Do I have the stamina though???
That’s a beautiful poem, Kim. Thanks for talking about it here. 💜
Thank you Kim, I love reading your insights. I will try NaPoWriMo again this year, last few times I tried I haven’t got to the end but I haven’t tried for a few years, I’ve been preferring to read other people’s. Time to get stuck in again. Love you ❤️❤️ and love you too Clare ❤️❤️
I've had a few years where I've ran out of steam about two thirds of the way through Ann...I think gesturing towards it is equally valid :)
I love this poem Kim and what an ending! Also the Keith Leonard one- thanks for sharing and for your astute reflections on the inequality of responses to parenting!
Ha thanks Charlotte. The other thing that drove me mad was Park run - Chris would push Ally round in the pram so I could have a 30 minute run on my own and get loads of compliments and attention for doing so - did I get people cheering me when I pushed the pram the other 6 days of the week?? NO!
Sooo infuriating! but sadly so common- I feel your pain. My husband has been an utterly devoted father and i'm very grateful that he is but yes he gets disportional praise for it too!
This is very lovely and I relate so much to what you're saying,which is definitely a source of inspiration in itself. I once wrote a tiny poem on this very theme - it came to me in the shower 😂
My poetry is a dandelion in the cracks
Of life, deep rooted, squeezed
In between the stones, the blocks
Of mother, teacher, wife
Little moments of natural beauty, flowering
Ideas germinated in my mind, scrappy
But beautiful, their yellow faces shine.
🧡🧡🧡
Hi Caitlin, yes I think this is the beautiful thing about poetry - it can fit into those gaps! Prose I feel as if I have to have a bit more room for....
What a lovely post - I loved your abecedarian it reminded me when I was juggling writing as a mum with a baby & a toddler while doing a shadow TV writing scheme - a week before the deadline for script delivery they both got chicken pox. And now juggling again this time with work, health problems and the baby & toddler are teenagers with SEN going through GCSE's and A-Levels. Totally forgot NaPoWriMo so thanks for the reminder.
Thankyou Kim!
I love this poem, I think you're right the form really suits a parenting theme. I've never done napowrimo. I might give it a try as I've just finished a novel manuscript and need to get into a new headspace! Do I have the stamina though???
Hi Kim,
Thanks for this morning’s challenge. I find it hard to resist.
Here’s my ABC poem with three lines blanked in response to your caveat.
One of these each day in April, really would be a challenge.
Ken
Fading Light
After it goes dark, especially in winter,
Back I go to the old days when
Cold weather didn’t matter and
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Going out is not what it was, pubs have gone,
Houses, four bedrooms and more, demolished,
In their place even bigger piles rise up;
Jam spreads but never very far.
Keep an eye on the bigger, faster cars,
Lined up outside Michelin 4 Star places
Made for fat cats to feed their faces
Now, they know they can stay
Or bolt to a tax haven if Ms Reeves
Possibly gets tough and shows some pluck
Questioning the protection the rich enjoy,
Raising hopes a fairer society is still in play,
Stemming our fears she doesn’t give a fig
To level the most uneven ground,
Uncomprehending of the disappointment
Vaulting over all the hopes many voters had;
Why not repost the Manifesto to remind them what it said,
Xerox the many promises that taste like ashes.
Yesterday now seems so long ago;
Zero really means they count for nought.
© Kenneth Franklin
22 March 2025