National Poetry Month Day Twenty-Three

Prompt:  Write a 14-line poem that is a variation on the sonnet.  Look up the rules for both an English and an Italian sonnet and riff off one of those forms in a creative way.  Change up the rhyme scheme or do away with it. Make a rule for how many words are allowed per line or maybe each line must start with a noun.  Keep the 14 line structure, but get inventive with the rest of the form by creating at least 3 new rules.

 Inheritance

All those stacks of greeting cards.  She sighed.

To keep? To sort? To close the eyes and dump?

Lids and plastic tubs, bags wadded in a lump.

Worn-down shoes still holding ghosts.  She cried.

Wrapping paper, rolls of yarn and ribbons tied.

Clothes still held her essence, there beside

Faded photos. Unnamed faces. Should she hunt

For names? Or give to kids? What would Mom want?

True treasures weren’t things to hold with hands.

Mornings on the back porch shelling peas,

Fears quieted by one who understands,

The happy songs, the jokes, the mended knees.

Share the love.  There’s joy to dwell upon.
Hand down her wonder, smile and carry on.