Mary Geschwindt

“Next month, I’m attending a wedding in a cemetery, / and I can’t decide what people don’t like about that. // Who wouldn’t want to haunt their own grave / and then go dancing?” - Mary Geschwindt (@poemsasmaps )

That’s a wrap on my first time trying NaPoWriMo! 37 fresh poems in 30 days. Sharing the last couple of favorite - or snippets of favorite - poem sketches from the last week of April. Including a little celebration poem for reaching the end 🥂 thanks for following along this month!

Some poetry sketches from week 3 of NaPoWriMo. These are all first draft WIPs that I’m excited to keep working on and make them shine ✨

Some of my favorite NaPoWriMo poem sketches from this week✨ Enjoy a tiny dose of poetry, and swipe to the end for one of the silliest things I think I’ve ever written 😜

Sharing what I’m calling some poem “sketches” from what I’ve been working on these first four days of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). These are some of my favorite lines from each day of writing, part of longer drafts I’m excited to keep working on. Happy writing! ✍️

March is out like a lamb 🐑 As one woman who has a lot of her own (decorative) sheep, this poem was inspired by my visit to San Antonio’s @mcnayart museum last week and falling in love with this Kiki Smith sculpture.

Celebrating World Poetry Day & the beginning of spring by defrosting this poem I wrote this time last year. My favorite part of this season is watching the slow thaw of the ground, witnessing the flowers start to peak out 🌷

Poem for a January Birthday Girl - because today, that girl is me! 🎉

Poem about a horse in Central Park who got spooked and ran into traffic. Or about being spooked by the weight of the world and struggling to compartmentalize tragedy and a hunger for something better against the expectations of getting through a “normal” day. Or both, or something like that.

My favorite thing I did in 2025: share poetry with friends. Joining @gatherpoets this year was the best decision I ever made. Looking forward to a lot more creating in community in 2026 ✨

Happy Winter Solstice! This marks the second winter solstice that I’m leaning into setting my intentions for the year ahead with the 13 Magical Nights. In this ritual, you write out 13 intentions on individual pieces of paper and fold each one. Every night beginning on the solstice you burn and release one without reading it. On the last night, you read the final intention, and this one becomes a promise that you make to yourself to fulfill in the next year. Last year, the intention I was left with was “Establish and maintain a writing routine.” I took this intention seriously that this was what I was meant to focus on in 2025, and the next day, I joined the virtual writing group @gatherpoets . Gather has been life changing! Since January 3, 2025, I had 3 poems accepted for publication, including the poem I wrote on my golden birthday this year, The Nostalgia of the Infinite. That same poem was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I was featured on the Gather Poets podcast. I co-edited the inaugural Gather anthology with @theguelphpoet @alinakay66 and @hnnhlvy Two weeks ago, I got to meet so many of my fellow Gather poets at our anthology’s launch party and reading @dearfriendbooks in NYC. I read The Nostalgia of the Infinite and celebrated all that we’ve collectively accomplished this year. The magic of this ritual really works because it comes from within you - you’re making yourself a promise to focus on something that matters to you. I’m excited for this year’s ritual, to see what intention I’m going to follow in 2026 ✨

Crying in Public: NYC edition. A poem that may or may not be based on recent events. (Disclaimer: I cried in public but not about the events described in this poem; it’s an attempt to universalize the experience of being human and emotional in a very public setting.)