Inspiration for your next to the last NaPoWriMo poem is at your fingertips! D.S. Apfelbaum recalls what William Carlos Williams once wrote, “It is difficult/ to get the news from poems,” but asks, “Who says you can’t get poems from the news?”
For this prompt, choose your favorite newspaper or online news provider.
The headline I borrowed from (with its facts and figures intact) was “Enrollment in school lunch assistance programs reaches record highs” by JORGE BARRIENTOS of the Bakersfield Californian, our local daily newspaper
Peanut Butter and Jelly on White Bread
It is as simple as
Spaghetti and
Pizza and chicken nuggets
With fries
It is as simple as
90 percent of Samuel’s classmates
68 percent of Kern Kids
51 percent of California Kids
Eating free or cheap
There was a time
Her girls ate for free
Few questions asked,
Downcast eyes said,
“I have a need”
Before peanut butter
And jelly munching became
Fodder for reporters
Teens turn away
It is as simple as
Stigma stirring the air
(High schoolers would
Rather be hungry than
Embarassed even knowing)
It is as simple as
60 percent chewing
In 2000, the sandwich fest
cost $6.1 billion
In 2008 it cost $9.3 billion
It is as simple as hunger
It is as simple as joblessness
It is as simple as homelessness
It is as simple as compassion
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