Four April centos: No. 2

Today is the day for the second of four centos that I compiled from the endings of poems that were written on the last day of April, Day 30 of NaPoWriMo. This one has to do with life.

As I gathered all the last lines of the 96 poems shared on the official NaPoWriMo website on Day 30, they naturally fell into four categories. The first cento was generally on love and what comes after, today’s is about living on this earth, the third will be more negative in spirit, as for the fourth, you will see. I will post them all by the end of May.

Twenty-one poets contributed their April endings for today’s cento. Thank you so much. I’m so happy for all the positive feedback and no bad feelings about having a line or two borrowed. But you get all them back, here:

Life 

Who will I be today in bright wakefulness, 
on this side of my nakedness?1
Laying complexity aside
eyes closed, composed
know my soul,2
cosmic
tides that whisper: hello–
join us,3
exuberance of woodpeckers in the poplars,4
a balming of heartache
memories of good times
also drawing out smiles.5
They make you tick, they make you desired.6

I’ve every faith in able builders’ hands, 
no matter what materials they wield,7
to rise up bright and blast away
dark thought with light of day,8
to pull it down
to the ground
where you belong.9
Hold my hand, leaf. How beautiful you are.10 
She wrapped her arms around him
and rested her head.11

Your life means something special 
at every elevation.12
Life is worth 
the living; indeed,
each struggle is worth 
it all13
and connects us ever to universe.14
You never know, things could get better.15
What matters is kindness,  
and some truths can be kinder 
to mind than to unwind.16
Long is the time until we wait no more17
but we are the only ones 
who can still nail 
drawing the soul.18
We’ll put the fire out
we’ll save the world.19
We are the blue sky wonderland 
where our dreams become reality.20 
We carry it, we throw it, 
we say thank you for the poems.21 

1. Cris Farinas: Waking
2. AF Cele: Yes, this chapter
3. Kerfe Roig: That which is not
4. Jane Dougherty: Rain falls
5. Punam: Case for confrontation
6. Gargi Sarkhel Bagchi: Women
7. A. R.: If You Build It
8. Elizabeth Boquet: Good Morning, Moon
9. Donna M Day: Chrysalis
10. Romana Iorga: Palinode (The poem has expired but here is a cento from Romana’s forthcoming collection.)
11. Candace Shultz: Excited
12. Salovie
13. moment-of-november: The Living
14. Melissa Lemay: Inspire;
15. Vito del Valle: Things Could Get Better
16. Glenn Mitchell: Love Born
17. Gloria D. Gonsalves: How short is time?
18. Lianne: Human fingers
19. Smitha Vishwanath: We will survive
20. Lyn Hazleton: How to Overcome Madness
21. Mirjana M (Oloriel): Thank you, _______

^{I heart you too, leaf.}

Four April centos:

• No. 1: Future vs past
• No. 2: Life (this post)
• No. 3: Bad sad mad
• No. 4: On writing

Three previous NaPoWriMo centos:

• Day 28, 2023: Index 2023
• Day 30, 2022: Magic cento
• Day 16, 2019: Art likes to make more of itself