April words
Short works for the month
A collection of short works from April
All words, photos, and artwork my own.
4/1/26
Magnolia:
satin petals stretch
like stars on blankets of blue
slowly spring unfurls
4/2/26 (this was a busy day)
10-word story
No matter what they did, the skull kept grinning.
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4/2/26 poetry chain
and let silence decide
the way shifting shadows map a room
tracing light like it is your face
rather than a ticking clock
counting out the cost
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4/2/26
Tanka:
A bloom of red wings
Bringing word beyond the veil
Where love and loss meet
Ruby glows upon my grey
With warmth I can remember
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4/2/26
10-word story:
The forest was my quiet place, until it spoke back
4/3/26
April impatience
blooming even so, despite
blushing in cold air
4/4/26
Still Golden:
Raining once again
🎶 Thank you for being a friend 🎶
Reruns on tv
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4/4/26
Contrast ♡:
Dry wood starts to split,
Frozen roots then sudden cracks
Seasons salt each wound
True as life and false as art
I am broken, I am whole
4/6/26
lately words escape
even as they fill my mind
sometimes silence speaks
4/7/26
Dolce far niente/For Nimila
Basking in sunshine
Feel slow living’s warm embrace
Sweet, honeyed stillness
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4/7/26 haiku chain
My nose is itchy
I’m destined to kiss a fool
So the story goes
4/8/26 poetry chain
Until its found
I’ll listen for what is hidden
Let the earth breathe and open
As paths unfold in surrender
4/10/26
Deep in cool, dark earth,
Winding roots grip stones like hands,
Living, being still
As we sigh, the trees and I,
One pulse beneath bark and skin
4/11/26
Waiting wooden arms,
Reaching out for April sun,
Cradle puffs of white
Soft clouds bloom on barren boughs
Holding space for coming leaves
4/15/26
though it’s on my sleeve
be kind to my bleeding heart
as it starts to bloom
4/16/26
Tanka: 🐇
Peering through the veil,
The space between consciousness
What luck do you bring?
A trickster at dawn and dusk,
Or augur of our rebirth
4/17/26 haiku chain
Twilight beams softly
Rose and lilac briefly spill
Into dusk’s deep blue
4/19/26
Redbud:
They call you Judas,
Betrayal in fuchsia hues
Weight not yours to hold,
Bright pink buds give way to red
Not weak, resolved in breaking
4/20/26 poetry chain
They ceased to exist and they died in their dirt,
Powerless now, to inflict further hurt
They took what they took, so I answered in kind,
Evicting the shadows they left in my mind
Echoes that once carried the sound of their names,
I offer in effigy, I release with the flames
No more restraint, put the pain on the page,
A chorus for all with this righteous rage
The waiting is over, the moment is now,
The tide is already turning, the only question is how
4/22/26 Earth Day
Soft pink clouds above
Gone before the moon can change
Floating by like snow
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4/22/26 Earth Day
Moon rising, half smiles
As Sun sinks in Earth’s embrace
Kissing her goodnight 🌎🌒☀️
4/23/26
A ghostly keel carves through the mist,
of hidden heavy whiteness
While gauzy sails and ropes entwist,
adrift in endless lightness
4/24/26
twin galaxies spin where the first embers start,
binding the stardust with the beat of a heart
they hold every atom of each love they have known,
a map of the cosmos in a gaze all our own
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4/24/26 poetry chain
As a poet who longs for some semblance of love,
I struggle with the words, wait…maybe all of the above
I barely feel I’m a poet, though I guess the rhymes are there,
Ink out the verse, don’t rehearse, and I’m floating on air
But it’s just for a moment before reality creeps in,
and it’s like I’m behind a few steps before I even begin
Share it all? Is it too much? Am I even ready?
Do I want to be seen, or just keep it all heady?
Abstract it, distracted, leave room to breathe,
it’s all honest but clouded, a smile hiding its teeth
4/26/26
Tanka for Sunday
Searching for color
Dragging along a grey mood
Lilac sweetly sighs
Moon welcomes me as I am,
It knows there are days like this
4/26/26
April leaves a mark,
Power struggles in extremes
May, bring with you peace
Let each harvest yield its due,
Be it thorns or fragrant blooms
Thanks for being here.
Until next time,
j
Beautiful tankas and stunning photos darling
There’s something beautiful about the way these pieces don’t try to become grand statements. They feel more like small moments left open long enough to keep breathing. The collection works because it allows tenderness, uncertainty, humor, nature, grief, and stillness to exist beside each other without forcing them into a single voice.