April PAD Challenge: Day 1

Soooooo, time to begin the April Poem-A-Day challenge! I can tell from the site traffic and personal emails waiting for me this morning that everyone is chomping at the bit to get started. I don't blame you. This is exciting for me as well.

We'll start off with a softball (no reason to pull any muscles on the first day of the challenge, right?): Since today is the first day of the month, write a poem about a first or a series of firsts. This first could be a first love, first job, first funeral, first marriage, first divorce, first child, first Wal-Mart shopping experience, etc. You could also flip this around to be a poem about beginnings (after all, the beginning of anything is also a first step in a process).

Since I promised I would write a poem-a-day to match the prompt-a-day, here's a little poem I put together this morning about my first (and luckily only) cast.

"The Cast"

We kept it in a plastic bag
as if it were a comic book
or meat that needed freezing;
it hooked around my thumb
and traveled to my elbow--
the result of jumping a fence
too fast to chase down a ball
hit for a homer, my shoestring
caught and swung me to the ground
where a stone waited to fracture.
The rest of that summer, I
batted one-handed, played catcher,
and let everyone sign it.
I've never needed another,
and we never did find that ball.

Remember: You don't need to write a "revised" poem; you just need to write a draft. Revision can wait until May.

Once you finish the poem, paste it into the comments below. Heck, you could just type the first draft right into the comments box. (If you do this though, copy and paste the draft somewhere else before posting--just in case any technical glitches erase your comments.)

But wait! There's more!

Since I like to listen to classic rock stations that offer "Two for Tuesday" songs by the same band on Tuesday, well, I'm going to offer "Two for Tuesday" prompts. Woo-hoo!

If you're not feeling that initial prompt, you can try this one instead. (But don't feel obligated to write a poem for both prompts--unless you're an overachiever.)

Extra prompt: Since today is also April Fool's Day, write a prank poem. This could get very fun and very creative.

Okay, that's enough for now. Get at it!