I penned my final poem of April last night, and felt a combination of relief and sadness. Relief that my days could now turn back to PURE and concentrating on finishing that novel, and sadness because I'll miss the liberation of knowing my prescribed daily writing task (yes, it is liberating to have someone tell me what to do every now and then).

BUT... poetry's not going away just because April showers bring May flowers. Nope. you see, a group of us played poetry daisy chain, yielding eight collaborative poems. I'll be introducing you to the poems -- and the authors who originated each one -- in the coming weeks. These writers -- Michael Solender, Laurita Miller, Mark Kerstetter, Paige von Lieber, Tony Noland, Doug Mathewson, and Robin Stratton -- pen poetry and prose, and when you read their stories and poems, you can see the influence of each genre on the other. Paige wrote a poem to honor the Poetry Chain Gang.

Out this week ===> 6S:V3, featuring some of the finest six sentence writers and edited by the excellent Lydia Davis.



EXHALE

You say
follow the breath
so I do
and listen to your mantra
mild, measured

on the inhale
guts, liver, lungs
float, oxygenated
cushions, and relax me
into the moment
the now
the be

but as my stomach
hollows on the exhale
air clutches somewhere
higher, afraid on the
outtake
to be.


Prompt: letting go


Peace, Linda