The Orchard | March 29th Issue: Planting Seeds

Table of Contents:
Garden Center Kiosk
Gardeners Almanac
What is NaPo written by alliyah
What are Poetry Jams? written by Quillfeather
YWS Poet Interview written by Que, featuring keystrings
Why NaPo? written by alliyah
NaPo Goal Setting written by Quillfeather
How To Make A NaPo Thread written by EllieMae


A note from our editor...

Well, it is already that time again! It is time for us to begin NaPo, starting on April 1st. To begin this NaPo newsletter, I would like to thank @LadySpark, the usual editor. This year, I got the wonderful opportunity to be editor and I am so thankful to be able to do so! Thank you LadySpark for all of your work on previous issues that has guided and helped me so much! As well, thank you to everyone who has worked hard to make this possible. Every year, NaPo allows me to discover a new part of myself that seems to stick with me the entire year.

As Joy Harjo once said... “When I began to listen to poetry, it’s when I began to listen to the stones, and I began to listen to what the clouds had to say, and I began to listen to others. And I think, most importantly for all of us, then you begin to learn to listen to the soul, the soul of yourself in here, which is also the soul of everyone else.”

I wish you all of the best this month, in your reading, writing, and participating in events, whatever that looks like for you. I hope that poetry can be a friend to you as you begin your journey.

Your friend,
Ellie Mae

To begin your NaPo journey, head over to our NaPo Forum to create your own thread! All you need to do is create a theme- perhaps an important quote or inspiration- then start writing your poems in your own thread. Take a look at the NaPo FAQ if you have any questions. You can put your questions there, or ask a moderator for help. Also take a look at our 2025 NaPo information Thread.

If you are looking for a challenge, the NaPo Prep Challenge is running until March 31st.

If you want to earn some cool badges, take a look at the Badge Thread to see exactly you must do to earn them all!

NaPo Countdown: NaPo begins on April 1st! If you have not made your thread, now is a great time to do so.

Quillfeather is running April Madness again this year! You can sign up here to be a contestant or PM Quill to be a judge. Sign-ups close on April 3rd.

Do you want a NaPo buddy? Check out this and sign up by April 1st!

If you're new to YWS, or just aren't usually around during April, you might be wondering... what are all these strange acronyms being thrown around? NaPo? Is that some sort of Pokemon or a new dairy queen blizzard flavor? Not quite! NaPo is officially short for "NaPoWriMo" and on YWS occasionally also gets called "PoMo" - it's all short for National Poetry Month which is celebrated all over the globe and is a month-long celebration of all things poetry during the month of April.

The classic challenge is to write 30 Poems in 30 days, one for every day in April. But you can participate at any level. (Yes! You can make a fancy thread and post 1 poem every week and still be considered a participant!) You don't have to do 30 poems to participate in NaPo on YWS though, in fact, there'll be a host of challenges and opportunities to earn badges too.

That being said, just because you don't have to write 30 poems to participate, why not give it a try! Just like prose-writers will write many drafts to hone their stories, poets should experiment and draft and grow their craft by writing rough-drafts and a lot of times the best way to do that is to put words on the page.

In addition to being challenged to write poetry, we'd also love for you to join us in reading poetry by commenting on other people's NaPo threads and joining in our poetry discussions and write-ins throughout the month too!

For the basics, the quick-links, and your NaPo Info HQ check out The 2025 NaPo Information Thread.

Poetry Jams are one of my favorite parts of Napo. Meeting other poets, writing poetry in a space together, sharing your passions and ideas with people who are just as passionate as you. And best of all getting up to some friendly shenanigans and just plain having fun!

But we are lucky enough to have so many fresh faces around here excited for NaPo. And some of you may be wondering -

What exactly is a NaPo jam?

Such a good question! Napo jams are something we’ve been doing for quite a few years although the names have changed for each year’s theme (see parlor parties etc.) These Napo Jams are Write-ins intended for people participating in Napo to come write their poetry or just hang out and party. As opposed to usual year-round write ins. These Napo jams count toward Napo badges. You can claim those badges here

Napo jams are a great place to get your poems done, it’s a very motivational place as you are surrounded by poets. It is also a wonderful place to do collaborative poems with fellow poets. It can also be a good place to discuss goals, struggles, check-in with and support fellow poets, and to have discussions as well as to simply hang out and talk.

Now that you have learned more about napo jams you may be wondering –

How do I participate in a poetry jam?

Throughout NaPo there will be links to official poetry jams posted in the Poetry Jam club. Simply click on the WFP link posted and join! Also remember to take that link and post it in your badge claiming spot to get your Napo Jam Badge.

Not only this, but please feel free to create your own Poetry jams. Simply create your own wfp, theme it in any way you want, and post it to the Poetry Jam Club You can make this as simple or complex as you want! Personally, when I set up a Poetry Jam I like to have links to all the Napo activities, A prompt, and some check in questions. But I have seen so many amazing set ups!

Whatever you do, Poetry Jams are always fun so I absolutely encourage you to participate in/host at least one this Napo.

Happy poeting!

@keystrings has been all over YWS in more than ten years on the site, from participating in NovMo to writing poems for NaPo, as well as being a junior moderator and later a global moderator.

One of key’s favorite poems written on YWS is 2. lilium amabile (b) from their 2019 NaPo thread. Here’s an excerpt from it (and a taste of what we can look forward to this April!):

today, i find a flower, curled
not unlike one i received yesterday,
but with matching dots-as-freckles
along my face and arms, playing
constellation games with the more
that seem to pop up.

Read on to hear what key’s NaPo plans are this year and tips for anyone looking to do NaPo for the first time!



keystrings: I’ve participated in NaPo since 2018, so this will be my 8th year! It’s fun every year to think of another theme to discuss or to view the world through when it comes to poetry.



keystrings: Oh yes it is! I really like to think of the past year and reflect on it somehow, thinking about how I can convey my feelings/memories. It’s also super fun to see what other poets are considering as well.



keystrings: Haha, yes. I absolutely love the concept of time capsules in any way. I do think I’ve seen a change in my poetry -- I can appreciate not being held by restraints in terms of not/somewhat using rhyme sequences, capitalization, etc in more recent poetry. I also like to notice how there’s some patterns in my poetry looking back over the years, such as a reoccurring topic.



keystrings: Ah yes, that’s right! I had done a whole NaPo thread in 2019 on various flowers and species, sort of like an encyclopedia entry for different emotions and different pictures. This year, I feel like it would be really fun to have a similar angle on plants that are in my garden or home or surrounding neighborhood, with some flowers included of course.



keystrings: For this year’s NaPo, I want to stay with something consistent on writing poetry every day, and trying to write 30 poems -- if nothing else, then I want to write a poem on every plant/flower I can see around me, haha.



keystrings: Yes I do!! I’m hoping to catch some plants still flowering/blooming, if not, that’s okay, haha. But, I am trying to think of how I can best include pictures (taken by me!) in every poem entry.



keystrings: Oh, yes. Just get started with something -- anything that might be inspiring, or anything that catches your attention, whether that is something in front of you, or something you are reading about. You truly do not need a theme to get started for NaPo. After all, your goal is to write poetry and spread your own message.



keystrings: Hmm. I just love to see what others end up writing about and to see what inspires them! Plus, checking out whatever events end up happening like April Madness! Here’s to a happy NaPo month!

So you've heard a lot of hype on the People Tab about something called "National Poetry Month" (NaPo) coming up, but you're still on the fence... you're busy, you're not sure you're even a poet, and you're afraid it might be a waste of time. If you're asking yourself "Why NaPo" I'd love to share some of my reasons for participating in National Poetry Writing Month every year! Maybe it might just inspire you to participate too! As a fair disclaimer I'm going to pull my list from a Squills article I wrote 5 years ago because the reasons still ring true!

1) This is a good chance to just write.

I think, because poetry is shorter than most prose works, a lot of poets feel like they can only share their best polished work, and kind of hide all of their drafting phrases. Because of that, I think people actually get discouraged from writing imperfect pieces because all they see is everyone's best, or feel like their own work isn't the best they can do. The truth is, poetry like-prose needs editing and practice to improve. And NaPo is a great time to write without feeling self-conscious that your work is in the editing-stage, everyone's in the same boat writing a poem in a limited amount of time and doing the best they can.

2) It's a good chance to write poetry in community.

We're all part of a big community anyways on YWS and hopefully you get a chance to interact with people in the people tab, write-ins, role-plays, and reviewing, but you have an even better chance during NaPo. National Poetry Month is wonderful because everyone's working for similar goals, so you can encourage each other and easily see everyone's progress. Also one of my very favorite parts of NaPo is commenting on everyone's thread. When someone post's their poem through the Literary-Center I try to give a good share of criticism and encouragement if I review their work, but NaPo isn't the time for full out reviews, I get to concentrate just one what I love specifically about that person's poetry, almost as if I was reading their poems in a poetry book. The mindset is much different, and I think it creates a really positive environment of everyone encouraging each other and just loving poetry.

3) Also NaPo is very flexible, you'll have fun, there's no way to fail

I don't think I need to explain this rule, but seriously, if you have some hesitations about poetry, or think "I'm not a poet," "I don't have time," "I don't know how to write poetry" or whatever other hesitations you have, this is the absolute perfect event to try poetry out, because there is very little pressure and you have the whole month to experiment and see what works. Don't know what to write? Don't make it complicated! Write an acrostic or a haiku the first day, something short and simple. Or take a look at this list of 30 prompts that I put together for the month here in NaPo Prompt Central.

Now that we understand what NaPo is, it is also important to understand what some goals are and how you can set them and decide what your own personal goals are!

The thing about Napo goals is that it’s entirely personal to you, and there is absolutely no right or wrong way to do it. There are many ways to participate. Whether it’s about participating in the community, trying new poetic forms, challenging yourself to write every day, challenging yourself to write a certain amount of poetry, trying poetry out for the first time, or anything related.

So that being said, I believe the place to start is to ask yourself why this is important to me. And then once you can figure that out you can figure out what your goal will be. For example, if you decided that you just wanted to write more poetry to practice that skill, then you might decide you want to write 30 poems total. If you shift your perspective from “what is everyone else doing?” to "why do I want to do this?” then your goals can become much more meaningful to you.

Some of the goals that earn you badges here on YWS are, 5 poems total, 15 poems total, 30 poems total, and poem a day. As well as the community badges, which can also be great Napo goals. Each of these can be framed as something important to you. But your goals can go beyond this as well. Some goals I’ve seen are to stay updated on other users’ threads. I love this goal because it really gets to the heart of why we do Napo here on YWS. I have seen goals about trying to explore more poetic forms in their poetry.

Once you have set a goal for yourself, I really encourage you to share your goal! I find this is helpful for sticking to your goal if you have the wonderful community of poets around you are supporting you in your goals. One easy way to do this is share your Napo goals with the hashtag #NaPoGoals post this on the Peoples Tab and share your goals!

Remember that all your goals, even if they seem small, or too hard, or you don’t end up reaching them. Every goal brings us into this amazing world of poetry where we can express feelings that seem impossible to describe, we can give the words to people that they couldn’t find themselves, we can inspire, we can create, and we can bring together. That is worth a lot.
Happy poeting!

National Poetry Writing Month (NaPo) starts on April 1st! If you are planning to participate on YWS, you still have a little bit of time to create your own NaPo thread. Is this your first NaPo and are you a little bit nervous about how to make one? Look no further, because I am going to show you how, step by step

Step One: To begin, you need to go to the Forums tab and scroll down to the special events tab. You will find a section called "NaPoWriMo". Click on that.



Step Two: Once you click on that, you will find yourself amongst all of the NaPo threads for this year! You will see a blue button that says "Post a new Topic". Click on that.



Step Three: You will be brought to a page that looks like this. Next, you need to fill it out with your own information for your thread. You can click on the topic tag and select 'comments welcome' or 'no comments' to let others know if you want them to comment on your thread or not. The subject is your title or theme. This is often a quote or poetic statements that summarizes a feeling, idea, or message that you are planning to work with this next month in your poetry. Then, in the main body section, you can include a summary of your theme, your goals, thoughts, graphics you create, or others! Post that topic and you will see it amongst the other threads!



I hope that this article has helped answer your questions about making your own NaPo thread! Please reach out to a moderator for help if you have any more questions!