Hello faithful readers,
The NaPoWriMo.net site and Maureen have not let us down, now on day 23! She says: “Today I’d like to challenge you to write a poem in the style of Kay Ryan, whose poems tend to be short and snappy – with a lot of rhyme and soundplay. They also have a deceptive simplicity about them, like proverbs or aphorisms. Once you’ve read a few, you’ll see what I mean.” This prompt seemed daunting at first, but immersing myself in the work of Kay Ryan, I began to feel her rhythm. For this poem, “As Though it Mattered,” I adopted the structure of her poem, “The Best of It,” an incredible poem, and also the title of one of her collections. Here’s her poem from Poetry Magazine: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=42130

As Though it Mattered
However we mourn
our lost love, we
go on taking each
breath to keep our
bodies alive. As though
by pouring memories
into a basin of salt, we
could smooth them like
seashells in the surf
as though every red GTO
from 1964 we see is the one
we remember, as though
it mattered.
Jacquelyn Markham (4/23/2022)