For the past five years, September has been the month when I participated in the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s “Break the Silence” 5K walk/run, to honor the memory of my mother. But this year, the NOCC event happens to fall on a day when I’ll be out of town. So in lieu of that race, I’ve decided to run a different type of marathon: by participating, for the second time, in the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project. The challenge is to write thirty poems in thirty days (one per day) and to seek sponsorship along the way.

When I did this marathon before (April 2013) my goal was to write in a different form each day, and some of my best inspiration came from friends suggesting themes or words for me to use. This time, I’m attempting a series of acrostic poems, and once again I’m taking requests. Send me a name (person, place, or thing) and I’ll use it to compose a poem!

Read all of this month’s poems—mine and those of my eight fellow September marathoners—on the Tupelo Press blog: https://tupelopress.wordpress.com/3030-project/