2026 NaPM 24 April

[RiverNotch]

Write a poem for National Poetry Month based on the topic described....rather, write a poem set in, pertaining to, or inspired by the given region, whether its entirety or just some part of it, as this year's prompts are going to be unified by the theme "Around the World" like last year's prompts were unified by the theme "Esoterica". Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. There are three levels of participation:

Bronze. Participated at least once.

Silver. Participated every day.

Gold. Participated every day, with all entries either being the same form (e.g., every one a sonnet) or being distinct forms (e.g., no two haiku).


Today's region, which alternates between West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia, is Iranian-speaking Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Balochistan, Iran, and Kurdistan.

[dukealien]

Divided They Stand


If you will, consider the Kurds, a people
broadcast far, distributed in four countries
but divided not by those borders, but by
theories of

how they should assemble a country of their
own: by peaceful means or by fighting for it.
So Iraqis, Syrians, Turks must guess which
sort of Kurd leader

they’re addressing.  Likewise Americans may
be deceived by children of Saladin, brave
soldiers, heroes, always the underdogs but
with an agenda.

[RiverNotch]

Tower of Silence


Once the last breath has left the lungs, the body
ceases to be this pure and precious thing:
from earth, water, and especially fire

it must be separated. Hence this tower,
open to the skies and thus to vultures
who'll peck at the skin and strip the bones of flesh,

helping the human caretakers keep themselves
as clean as the elements they help preserve.
Eventually what spills out and what's left over

is mingled in caustic lime, the soupy mixture
passed through hundreds of layers of sand and coal
until whatever's left is free to let

issue into a river or the sea,
for even the dead can grow, all things unclean
when to the happy light of the sun and moon
exposed for long enough becoming bleached.