Happy Poetry Month!

It's April. Cruelest month, tax deadline, and perhaps lilacs. (Will they really be this early?)

In the U.S., it's also Poetry Month. But what about elsewhere? Is April a poetry month for Canada, too? Do other countries have poetry month? When?

When will we have a world poetry month?

Over on Poetic Asides, Robert Lee Brewer is hosting a Poem a Day, and will provide prompts for the entire month. He explains that these are drafts. If April is for writing, May is for revising. With that healthy spontaneity in mind, here is my first draft of my first attempt:

FIRST HOUSE, ON FIRST AVE.


A little girl in a little room
up the narrow stairs--an attic,
the ceiling comfortably close
and a crack in the closet
that revealed the garage below.
A big madrone cursed for its mess,
a large yard with raspberries
and a swing set. Then, when
the interstate came through,
my father walked me down
to the end of the street
to see the construction
and the cement outlines
of the homes that had to go.