Happy National Poetry Month: Poem 15

Posted on April 15, 2026 by Michelle Garren-Flye

11:36 a.m. I’m a little later than usual. I was putting the finishing touches to a talk I’ll be giving later on poet laureates.

Did you know I get stage fright?

And yet, I hunger for attention. I guess that’s the fate of a writer. We work so much in solitude and then we want attention for our work, our thoughts, our selves.

There might be a poem in this.

Spoken word is the format of the day
play with that you poet you
who longs for attention for your words
thirst for love is a crime
time will be your enemy, friend
end this poem before it takes you too far
starlight is bright, but not for poets

can't rhyme that, can you?

11:42 a.m. Haha! I may have accidentally created a new form. I had no idea where it was going until I hit the end. I didn’t look up any rhyming words until then, and I only did that to see if there really weren’t any good ones for “poets”. I kind of like it. It uses rhyme, but not in a traditional way. Let’s add punctuation and maybe a title.

Poet Rap
by Michelle Garren-Flye

spoken word is the format of the day;
play with that, you poet, you
who longs for attention for your words!
thirst for love is a crime—
time will be your enemy; friend,
end this poem before it takes you too far!
starlight is bright, but not for poets.

can't rhyme that, can you?

11:46 a.m. That was fun. Thanks for joining and feel free to let me know what you think.

Poem and photo copyright 2026 Michelle Garren-Flye

Let’s go swimming: Poem and thoughts about breathing

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Michelle Garren-Flye

I’m thinking of changing the title of this blog. I named it “Breathe” way back. Years ago. When it felt like I didn’t have time to breathe. It was supposed to remind me and maybe others to take a moment. A moment to breathe is a precious thing.

Breathing took on a different meaning for me later on. Sometimes breathing isn’t easy. Sometimes this necessary thing hurts.

But maybe you still need the reminder.

I’m still on the villanelle ride. It’s not easy, either. I’m writing and rewriting and rhyming and re-rhyming (that’s a thing!). I’m up to eleven now. I thought I’d share one with you. Not the one with profanity, which is repeated multiple times because this is a villanelle lol.

This is one of my favorites, though.

Villanelle #6

I’m going swimming in a blue lake;

I want to do it once before I die.

Come with me when you wake.

This note will replace what I take.

I hope you’ll understand why

I’m going swimming in a blue lake.

I know you’re here for my sake;

our souls are bound by that tie,

so come with me when you wake.

There’s nothing between us that’s fake,