Welcome to today’s installment of the 2024 Progressive Poem. The story of this year’s poem feels more critical and desperate than past poems. Our hearts are cheering for these two young migrants; our heads know there are almost insurmountable challenges ahead.

cradled in stars, our planet sleeps,
clinging to tender dreams of peace
sister moon watches from afar,
singing lunar lullabies of hope.

almost dawn, I walk with others,
keeping close, my little brother.
hand in hand, we carry courage
escaping closer to the border

My feet are lightning;
My heart is thunder.
Our pace draws us closer
to a new land of wonder.

I bristle against rough brush—
poppies ahead brighten the browns.
Morning light won’t stay away—
hearts jump at every sound.

I hum my own little song
like ripples in a stream
Humming Mami’s lullaby
reminds me I have her letter

My fingers linger on well-worn creases,
shielding an address, a name, a promise–
Sister Moon will find always us
surrounding us with beams of kindness

But last night as we rested in the dusty field,
worries crept in about matters back home.
I huddled close to my brother. Tears revealed
the no-choice need to escape. I feel grown.

Leaving all I’ve ever known
the tender, heavy, harsh of home.
On to maybes, on to dreams,
on to whispers we hope could be.

But I don’t want to whisper! I squeeze Manu’s hand.
“¡Más cerca ahora!” Our feet pound the sand.
We race, we pant, we lean on each other
I open my canteen and drink gratefully.

Thirst is slaked, but I know we’ll need
more than water to achieve our dreams.

Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect has the next couplet. Please be sure to visit Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All

At the beginning of the year, I began teaching a section of 6th grade in addition to my literacy specialist role. Then, just as I was finally feeling comfortable with my new routine, two sections of 7th grade were added to my schedule. Suffice it to say, I didn’t have a lot of bandwidth left for writing poetry. Still, I’ve tried to keep up with our Inkling challenges. This month, Mary Lee asked us to “write a haiku sequence that talks about poetry without mentioning it by name.”

I wasn’t sure how to approach this challenge, but as usual, a walk helped me find a place to begin.

a woolly bear
stirs, stretches, slips from her bed
hungry for spring sun

her inner compass
steers her toward delicate greens
transformation fuel

suddenly our paths
cross; I swerve and stumble
she keeps inching along 

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2024

Be sure to visit my fellow Inklings to read their haiku, then visit Irene Latham at Live Your Poem for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Heidi @my juicy little universe
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Mary Lee @ Another Year of Reading