LexPoMo 2025
I posted 21 poems for this year’s LexPoMo which is more than I have ever submitted before but it felt like a bit of a cheat because of my Create manifesto. I’m not sure if it was taking a vacation early in the month or my manifesto haikus or what but I did struggle a bit with this year’s writing. It is possible that I’m still struggling with what to do with myself during this first summer off in decades. Whatever the reason it took me a while to find my rhythm so I ended up with a few poems that were not yet ready to post.
I am proud of my Create manifesto as a whole and even like some of my individual haikus as poems separate from the manifesto, but it is the 12 non-manifesto poems that really make me proud and I’m not going to lie I was more than a little disappointed that some of them did not get the love I believe they deserved. Recognizing that I must have similarly missed some gems (because 4010 poems!) I plan to check out the poems of my friends over the next month so stay tuned because I am confident there will be awesomeness.
You can check out my entire list of poems below but I want to think about them by theme:
Place: One of the poetic themes that I find inspiring to read is place so it is no surprise that I also often write about place. One of my favorites is the ekphrastic poem Perfectly Voiceless but I’m pleased with my other Kentucky inspired poems Prairie Parenting and Welcome Home which pairs (in life and my mind) with Michigan Epistle.
Identity: Of course every poem is essentially about identity because writing is the product of our constant struggle to understand ourselves and how we fit into the world and I am no different. I am often drawn to this type of poetry as a reader as well as a writer. I do love the simple power of A Life, I really struggled to write a poem about my marriage and am satisfied with 35 Years Married even if it is not what I intended to write, I have been on a journey with my Undiagnosed Squirrel Brain and expect there is more writing to come, and finally the piece of my identity that I struggle with the most Parenting Advice.
Political: A blue dot in a red state I have never been a Bernie bro but I believe in his vision for our country. I struggle with writing these poems, I suspect because of my immense privilege. That may be why I so often find these poems in another such as with Let Ruin End Here and Found: hope. I did end the month with two political poems. I wrote Dear Democrats because I feel so deeply betrayed by the Democratic Party and White Feminism Failed Me Too because I am a Gen-X woman gaslit by America.
It will be interesting to see which poem makes the anthology.
| June 01, 2025 | A Life |
| June 02, 2025 | Prairie Parenting |
| June 03, 2025 | Let Ruin End Here |
| June 04, 2025 | Perfectly Voiceless |
| June 13, 2025 | Found: hope |
| June 14, 2025 | Dream |
| June 15, 2025 | Intend |
| June 16, 2025 | Release |
| June 17, 2025 | 35 Years Married |
| June 18, 2025 | Learn |
| June 19, 2025 | Nurture |
| June 20, 2025 | Move |
| June 21, 2025 | Michigan Epistle |
| June 22, 2025 | Welcome Home |
| June 23, 2025 | Remember |
| June 24, 2025 | Connect |
| June 25, 2025 | Plant |
| June 26, 2025 | Undiagnosed Squirrel Brain |
| June 28, 2025 | Dear Democrats |
| June 29, 2025 | Parenting Advice |
| June 30, 2025 | White Feminism Failed Me Too |
Image by Hannibal Height from Pixabay
