KUNC is inviting you to celebrate National Poetry Month with us! We’re asking the community to share their poetic skills with an ode to our Colorado home.
The window to submit poems is open until April 24. Over the course of the month, you'll hear your neighbors wax poetic with brief spotlights sprinkled throughout the day. On the last day of Poetry Month, April 30, we will dedicate segments on Morning Edition and All Things Considered to listener poetry. And, of course, we will feature all submissions right here at KUNC.org.
We’re accepting poem submissions in two short forms: lune and monostich.
Lune poetry is also known as “American haiku” and comes in two three-line formats:
A syllable lune consists of 13 syllables - five syllables in the first line, three in the second line and five in the final line.
Here’s an example of a syllable lune poem by Robert Kelly, the creator of the syllable lune form:
thin sliver of the
crescent moon
high up the real world
A word lune, adapted from Kelly’s style by Jack Collom, doesn’t have a specific syllable count. It has three words in the first line, five words in the second and three in the final line.
Here’s an example of a word lune by Josh Balerite Acol for Medium:
Brilliant lightning sparks
deafening thunder rumbles and rolls
huge electric spurts
A monostich is a single-line stanza, usually telling a short story or sharing a witticism.
Here’s an example of a monostich from Robert Lee Brewer for Writer’s Digest:
I hold a chip bag that only holds crumbs.
To share your poem, all you have to do is record it using your phone in a quiet setting (try your closet or under your comforter in bed) with a clear voice. Please include your name and where you live at the end. Send the audio file to poetrymonth@kunc.org. If you are unable to record yourself, you can call (970) 673-7350 and leave a voicemail reading your work. Or you can simply paste your poem in the form below.
Again, the deadline to share your poem is Friday, April 24. Happy National Poetry Month, and happy writing!
Looking for inspiration? Find listener poems from previous National Poetry Months here and here.
