National Poetry Month / NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2026 / Stafford Challenge

Welcome back to the blog, friends, for a new National Poetry Month. Like before, we will be writing a poem a day and posting those poems here. "We," being Thomas Alan Holmes and I, will be writing from prompts at NaPoWriMo and Poem-a-Day headquarters. I hope you'll keep coming back to read our poems this month. My poems this April are also continuing my participation in the Stafford Challenge, where poets around the world are writing a poem a day for a year. This is actually my second year with the Challenge, and today's poem is #75 this year and #440 over those two years. Okay, here goes . . . Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own tanka – or multi-tanka poem" (technically called a tanka sequence). The tanka is a Japanese poetic form: traditionally, in English, five lines with 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count. Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “For today's prompt, write a seed poem. So many plants start from a tiny seed and (hopefully) grow into something much more substantial, but there are also other ways to come at this prompt. Some people are considered good seeds ... or bad seeds. Some run-down, disreputable places are labeled seedy. Many competitive tournaments are seeded. So take a moment to consider seeds and then write your poem.” Here's my first April poem, combining both prompts, as I always try to do. I'm writing about Artemis II, the NASA mission heading to the moon later today. ’Round the Moon and Back             —tanka sequence Artemis II — seed to revive our space program with crewed flights? Drones sent to other planets seem more sensible, less dangerous . . . but less romantic. Later today, one woman and three men blast off for the moon’s far side we can’t see from Earth. Excelsior! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] And here is Alan's poem, also merging both prompts: Sprout “Johnny Appleseed” in elementary school the day I went west, teachers found me blocks away, pants pockets full of acorns. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Back to Artemis II: Good luck and Godspeed to the four astronauts heading to the moon today! Google today is celebrating the moon flight with a Google Doodle: (For more on this Google Doodle: https://doodles.google/doodle/nasas-artemis-ii-mission-around-the-moon/) Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ