So, Do You Want a Challenge?

I challenge you!

It's National Poetry Month, and poetic challenges are coming thick and fast.

If you want to write a poem a day, you shouldn't complain that nobody's challenging you!

Are you up for it?

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Over on Cuyahoga County Public Library's 30 Days of Poetry site, the first challenge is up:

April 1: Think abou​t opposites:

• If we could make April Fool’s Day into April Sage's Day, how would it be celebrated? Write a poem of decrees for such a day.

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Meanwhile, the Writing Knights have set up their own challenge-a-day for the month of April. Their challenges will all dealing with "vestigal words".  The goal is to use the word in that day's poem:

Writing Knights April 1 challenge:

• Today's word is: Agelast: a person who never laughs. Use the word in today's poem.

--e-mail your poem to Writing Knights, or post your challenge poem to their facebook page.

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And, over at "Poetic Asides," Robert Lee Brewer kicks off another month of April poetry challenges:

PAD Challenge, day 1:

• For today’s prompt, write a resistance poem. There are many forms of resistance, including militant resistance, resistance to new ideas, the resistance in exercise, and maybe even a little resistance to starting a new project. I hope you don’t resist the urge to write a poem today.

(Brewer' also gives a list of Poetic challenge tips-- worth reading even if you aren't doing the challenges,)
--Post your challenge poem to the comments of Poem A Day.

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You don't get rich from poetry

Robert Lee Brewer, in his Writers Digest blog, is asked the question "How much money does a poet make?"

His answer is "Many journals pay in contributor copies (and some don't even do that). The few that can afford to pay in actual money usually offer less than $100 for a poem. And publishing a book isn't going to rake in the cash either." Final word is that, if you're not a celebrity or the National Poet Laureate, "bottom line: There's no money in poetry."

Yeah, I already knew that. Anybody here surprised?

(Empty Mirror Books says about the same thing. For that matter, so did Robert Graves-- "There's no money in poetry, but then, there's no poetry in money, either.")

He continues, "But is that such a bad thing? I think the lack of money in poetry helps take the pressure off the art form. It's really all about a great line, a wonderful image, something that sticks with the reader."

Yeah, I already knew that. (Not that I wouldn't mind a little cash, now and then.)

Wadda ya think?