Young Writers Society

Ah look at that! You did it! Congratulations Spark, your thread is not only done but not a single one of these is a 'throw-away' poem, you did an absolutely amazing job keeping that high-quality up the whole month through and I've really enjoyed reading these. I'd say there are a number of them that seem publishable-quality too.

In your last set I am a particular fan of forgiveness (those first three lines & ending especially are just !!!!), tornadoes, worst enemy, some musings..

also there's something very powerful to the "a letter to the mother of my teenaged self, edited" - i did a series of haikus to my mother one napo and i think i've got a letter or two to my father in poem-form too; and it's such an intimate thing to write about familial relationships, and then the extra level of it being letter to the mother of your teenaged-self too - just all of it is very striking. these lines especially, "all i’ve ever wanted was to love. / i’ve never wanted the hate that grows (in) me—" </3 this poem felt heart-breaking, but not in a defeated way.

poem 28 is also an incredibly powerful reflection without being preachy.
"you see for so many years people told me that my body was something meant to be saved
meant to be something, meant to mean something to somebody.
but nobody ever told me that somebody would be myself"

poem 30 is a really good end note for a napo too "how do you control the desolate unending existence of poetry?"

Love this thread and the sweep of it with the western-imagery, letters to self & letters to others, and gritty bodily musings - there's a good variety of themes, but also a feeling of continuity and completion when you get to the end.

Thanks for sharing your poetry! (And also for all you've done to make NaPo such a fun, supportive, and exciting event!) Congratulations!