Quiet screams: An ABC Poem

April never understood what to do.
Be it nurture, nature or
Confusion between the two,
Deep down she felt helpless.
Every day she’d wake,
Feed herself,
Get dressed,
Head out of the house and
Insist she
Just wasn’t like everyone else.
Kindness felt difficult.
Love impossible.
Movement came slowly,
Numbly,
Or downright painfully.
Pain like no other.
Quiet screams
Raced through her veins,
Smiling at the sensation.
Time after time:
Unrelenting disappointment,
Vexing inconsistencies,
Warning signs repeated,
Xeroxed life,
Ye with little faith,
Zealously moving forward.

© Carl Burkitt 2017

This poem is part of a challenge for National Poetry Writing Month 2017 – a different style of poem each day about a woman called April.

Scratching an itch: A Tanka

April had an itch.
She flung her arm back to reach,
but hit something else…
Her boyfriend died instantly,
the itch now finally scratched.

© Carl Burkitt 2017

This poem is part of a challenge for National Poetry Writing Month 2017 – a different style of poem each day about a woman called April.

Life: A Nonet Poem

The light kissed April’s cheeks. In a way
Reginald had forgotten how.
The shadow of their silence
lingered on the walls they
had built throughout their
life together.
Their eyes met.
Their hearts
cried.

© Carl Burkitt 2017

This poem is part of a challenge for National Poetry Writing Month 2017 – a different style of poem each day about a woman called April.

Seven things: A List Poem

April had only seven things she loved:
Her mum
Her dad
Her older brother
Her older sister
Her younger brother
Her puppy
And the cemetery they all lived in.

© Carl Burkitt 2017

This poem is part of a challenge for National Poetry Writing Month 2017 – a different style of poem each day about a woman called April.