Thanks for checking in on me, Swannie! Always a pleasure to have you reading. ^_^ And thank you for the kind comments, as well.
The second stanza in Setting Bait was indeed Buffy, but I was actually thinking of Jadis and Edmund for stanza one - although I can certainly see how it would easily work with young Caspian! I guess "sugar offering" as literal rather than metaphorical was the only real differentiating factor there... While she didn't raise Ed as Miraz raised Caspian she did offer to essentially adopt him and make him her heir and provide for him forever as she was plying him with magic sweets - while knowing one of the four thrones was rightfully his - and we know that even as she was enchanting him, he believed her.
Hm... Spark may work. I'll at least tentatively put that on my month anthology doc! I feel like it places all the focus on the end, rather than on the contrast or on the wilderness of mindscape within which hope can still be found, but it does still fit the topic.

Glad you're still here with me enjoying, Hobbit! I am rather fond of old calluses, as well. 🙂
---

Jo and Dan
4/22/2018
(suddenly wondering - Alcott, Little Women and Little Men, AU. Dan as a girl.)
You knew she was trouble when you saw her face -
The same kind of trouble you could have been.
All dark-eyed fire and wild hair
She would never put up like a “proper” woman,
Phoenix’s ashes and city street rage
On the steps of the schoolhouse -
You couldn’t look away.
You knew she was trouble,
For your students and your tiny world -
Knew she was a tinder-box.
Knew she was kind.
Mothered your boy through that fierce “make it right"ness,
Protected him with word and wit and fists -
Protected the lost soul with the violin.

Behind the Glass
4/23/2018
Let’s break another funhouse mirror,
Shatter illusions open wide -
Wandering Yous warped and wavy forever,
And you can’t remember how you got inside.
With rabbit-holes and wardrobes you know how you found your way.
In your adventures you still own yourself, however long you stay.
But kid, when you’re lost in the Sisyphus carnival,
Will you still have your name by the break of day?

Scattered
4/24/2018
We are three weathers -
Sun-drought, rainstorm, winter’s snow -
One distant family.

Note: I didn't actually intend the symmetry of the end of the first poem and the title of the second, but I left them that way because it fit.
---

Within the Mist
4/26/2018
One more step forward in the dark.
Keep moving, you may find someone.
Keep moving, you may find a light.
One step more fights back the whispers.
Fog can take a thousand shapes,
In the end it’s only empty.
One step, now. Keep the path.
If there is still a path to keep,
Our scentless hunt may reap the morning.
Eyes peeled wide for a glimmer.
Although the air is empty now
Perhaps a moment brings an answer.

a moment
4/26/2018
Hold fast, my friend,
For the world is never empty.
Small moments still gleam.
Ice and sweetness in the heat,
Unexpected iridescence
In a bird’s folded wing.
There is always something left
To discover,
Some tiny secret to uncover,
As long as chinks of light can still
Invade your broken things.

Whoa, that parallel is so...COOL!

(Also I really love "Behind the Glass".)

Thanks friend! 🙂
...Hm... Behind the Glass and old calluses both stood out to you... Sorta wondering if you have a thing about rhythm?

---
Evening falls
4/27/2018
I rest in the shadows again,
And wonder how long it shall last.
Will the peace of night
In my sheltering place
Break slow or shatter fast?
Will the unease start with a whisper?
Will it harrow me with a croon?
Or will this be a rare sort of dark -
Quiet safety under the moon?
Will I look at my lamp like my one good thing -
Hope somewhere beneath the stars?
Or will I go drifting on light in dream,
Far from this planet's wars?

Another - something a touch more playful, this time.
---
Bookworms
4/27/2018
I’m a book-dragon, increasing my hoard -
I was only a little wyrm once.
You taught me how ink held the wonder of word
Even while chickenscratch made me feel a dunce -
And those words I collected and wound round my neck,
Like jewels found everywhere (even in dreck);
And though our tastes have a great divergence
I still find myself with a soft resurgence
Of wonder
When under
The spell of a page
Next to you, bookish comrade -
The first I’ve had.

Haha, I dunno. Maybe. 😛

Ooh, these are both amazing! I have to say that you really did incredibly with your word choices in "Bookworms". 😮

...Really? I am glad, then! 😀 I was worried one of two of the rhymes might have been reaching a little hard! 😛
---

broken thoughts
4/28/2018
Stumbling words suddenly
Gumming up the works,
I I can’t I don’t
I need -
Speak slower speak careful
I’m sorry it’s only
My mind’s half-asleep,
My heart’s half-awake,
No logic to run on
So many decisions.
A simple decision.
Do you want me?
Do you want help?
Where should I meet you?
Turns to mistrust turns to family turns to I am free but my wheels are not,
Turns to where can we buy privacy,
Turns to is it safe here at home.
Turns to I can’t drive and I don’t work
And professional confidentiality
Is less confidential if the neighborhood hears -
Besides the house is a mess so I’m not allowed guests -
And I haven’t gathered courage yet
To tell my parents what strangers are learning.

Sorry, I fell behind!
Absolutely love “Like seeds, like soil, like stars”!
"Behind the Glass" actually made me think of Owl City. Something in the phrasing and the almost-vague meaning behind the curious imagery.
And being a bookworm myself, definitely connect with "Bookworms". 😀

"And I haven’t gathered courage yet
To tell my parents what strangers are learning."
Oof. Yeah, I've felt that before.

Oh, that's alright! It's good to hear back from you, even if belatedly!

...Owl City, really? Well, I'll take the compliment, although the mood and rhythm felt quite different to me... perhaps if we're talking more Plant Life than Strawberry Avalanche. 😉

I had meant to leave the month on a better ending note, but life came thick and fast in the last couple of days. I got close to my goal number, at least!

I wasn't thinking of any Owl City songs in particular. The style of imagery just reminded me of his. 🙂

Kind of what I meant was... Among his more vague fantastical songs, I see two sorts of imagery. Some songs are a big grand whimsy, sort of a return to childhood or daydream-made-real. Some songs are quite morose in spite of upbeat musical style - seemingly dealing with danger, depression, feelings about death, fear of being crushed by the world, in the midst of a sea of metaphor - perhaps with notes of the world is terrible but I'm still hanging on. (And some songs really aren't vague at all and thus don't count for the analogy.) But. My first thought with Owl City tends to be the grand daydream, the whimsy-songs, and I was initially confused at the analogy until I remembered his vaguery can also be used on sadder themes.

...Heh. Overthinking much?

Bravo Lily! Spectacular stuff. That first line of Behind the Glass is really something. The image of breaking the distorting mirrors is incredibly satisfying. Within the mist and a moment are really neat too. I like how they lead into each other. Definitely makes me think of Shasta whether that was your intention or not. The book worm that grows up into a book dragon is delightful 🙂

Thank you!
I'm quite Glad that the "Behind the Glass" opening clicked for you. 🙂
Within the mist and a moment... I wasn't mainly thinking of Shasta, but I can't deny that was one on the images in my mind. 😉

Ahh, I get what you were getting at with the Owl City imagery now. Yes, he definitely has more than the one type and your imagery harkens more to one type than another. 😀

Thanks so much for sharing! Is NAPO only once a year? Where can I find more information about it?