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April National Poetry Month

April Poetry Month Contest

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The Spring Poetry Contest is upon us! This year’s prompt is “Windows.”  

All paid members of Writers of Kern are invited to write a poem and apply.

Word count is up to 1,200. Please use a Word document with no names or other identifying marks. Use Times New Roman, 12pt font, double-spaced, and use the attachment function to send your submission. 

Submissions will be blind judged using a rubric with the following parameters: form, originality, figurative language, message, and meter. The rubrics that Writers of Kern uses can be found on our Rubrics page.

Submissions will be accepted from April 1, 2025 through April 30, 2025. Submissions received before or after those dates will not be accepted. 

Please send your submissions with the subject line “April Poetry Contest” to Sandy Moffett: sm@sandymoffett.com 

Prizes of $100, $75, and $50, if applicable, will be awarded at the May meeting.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. One of the most popular and critically respected American poets of his generation, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.

Bed-Time Stories by Mark Fisher

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my dreams float like balloons in a blue sky
above forest and farms, a castle with moat
and all the fairy-tale landscape lying nearby
my dreams float

in among a sea of stars I lie afloat
and waves seem as words to my eye
showing me a story my father wrote

of magical worlds to which he would fly
to adventures on islands in seas remote
and to these lands I cannot deny
my dreams float

Mark A. Fisher is a writer, poet, and playwright living in Tehachapi, CA.  His poetry has appeared in: Silver Blade,  Penumbra, Reliquiae , and many other places.   His poem “there are fossils” (originally published in Silver Blade) came in second in the 2020 Dwarf Stars Speculative Poetry Competition.

Three Haiku Concerning…by Darlene Stotler

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What a Wise Man Saw
Holy angel guards
Christ gestating within child
While Mary cradles~

What a Wise Man Heard
Jesus smiles as mirth
springs from Mary’s lullaby
Footsteps cease~knees bend~

What a Wise Man Felt
Ringing quiet awe
Heralding innocent strength~
Eternal Life, Love

Darlene Stotler, who prefers to go by “d,” has been a freelance writer for more than 28 years whose works include human interest newspaper and magazine articles. A retired teacher of English, she realizes a career is uber important and fulfilling, but it’s family, faith and friends that remain her “fixed mark.”

Looking for the Art in Myself by Gary Evans

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I’m the only one up and still awake;
so, I decided to clean the pots and pans,
as well as disinfect the kitchen at 3:00 am.

Then I read one of my favorite scriptures,
Proverbs 14:23, “In all labor there is profit,
but idle chatter leads only to poverty.”

I was going to vacuum but didn’t want to wake my wife.
So, I thought that I would try to write
a rhyming poem, which is very difficult for me,
while it comes to my wife as easy
as taking a breath.

I need to look for the art in myself.

The most difficult writing for me
is ahead, I believe.
With a surplus of judgment,
chance has played a big role.
I will write until it takes its toll
on me.

Gary Evans, retired chiropractor; published in: Pathway to the Heart, WOK’s 2021 anthology; WOK’s 2021 NPM blog and soon 2022’s; accepted in CSUB’s 2022 Anthology, Writing Covid; zoomed open-mic events; member of Parkside Church and Writers of Kern. Gary’s been married to Shelley for 44 years; they have 3 daughters.