Author: Charlotte Hamrick

Charlotte Hamrick’s creative writing and photographs have been published in a number of literary journals and anthologies. Her debut prose chapbook, Offset Melodies, is included in Grieving Hope (ELJ Editions), a collection of five microchaps. She is Managing Editor for Reckon Review.
Free Verse, Na/GloPoWriMo 2026, Poetry6 Comments

Early Life

Charlotte Hamrick

Early LifeThe small kitchen porchThe morning glory vine that twirled up the porchThe grassy hillThe groundhog that lived on the hill The creek across the road The creek so clear, running with minnows The stone Spring House The jars of canned goods, cool in the Spring House The flower-studded front lawn The rabbits that played on the front lawn at twilight The big country silence The whip-poor-wills that sang out in the silence The bed at the top of the stairs The bed that hugged after a long day of play NaPoWriMo day 15 prompt: Today, we’d like you to … Continue reading Early Life

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Saturdays on Soul Train

Charlotte Hamrick

Saturdays on Soul TrainPlatforms, bell bottoms & paisley printsFunky Chickened & Bumped the Soul Train line,one hour once a week cool moves & us glued to a rock & rolling tv & music in mono but all so special in its scarcity.Now then every granny, toddler, & all in between TikTok, Facebook, Instagram their moveson phones, tablets, laptops, streaming & streaming& streaming into infinity,on tv every consumer-driven product sells itself dancing,none of it special, it all blurs into flailing arms & legs,white noise & puppet images —Click Na/GloPoWriMo day 14 prompt: Today, we challenge you to write a poem that … Continue reading Saturdays on Soul Train

Free Verse, My Poetry, Na/GloPoWriMo 20263 Comments

Basket

Charlotte Hamrick

Basket After Jane HirshfieldIf my eyes fall on the basket sitting on my dresser,I marvel for the millionth timeat the skill and time it tookto create a vessel of such beauty and strength, echoing the beautyand strength of the hands thatshaped it and I marvel at the timewe visited the little shopon the reservation where it was sohard to choose just one and I marvelnow at the beauty and strength of you,how I took it for granted, how hard it is to choose just one memory of us together, happy I don’t have to. Na/GloPoWriMo day 13 – I’m off … Continue reading Basket

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Springtime Freshness in Every Puff

Charlotte Hamrick

Springtime Freshness in Every PuffHalf-used, a green and white crinklypackage hides amid a twilight of dust bunnies.A set of five small fingers grabs it out into light & air, an alien environment.I am confronted.O little sister. I see the beginningof your life in this moment.Whether by instinct or observation,you knew and you cared. You weresmarter at 6 than I was at 16. Na/GloPoWriMo day 12 prompt: Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own poem that recounts a memory of a beloved relative, and something they did that echoes through your thoughts today. Continue reading Springtime Freshness in Every Puff

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Premonition is an Unwanted Thing

Charlotte Hamrick

Premonition is an Unwanted ThingSometimes when sunlight is trappedwithin clouds & cages, I hearthe hiss & fall of life support, scrubhands that failed to touch.(Why did I turn away? Judgement clouded empathy. Try again. Why did I turn away? Your need was too overwhelming.)Sometimes an Iris blooms whenit’s supposed to sleep. Sometimesa message of peace appearsat your feet. Na/GloPoWriMo day 10 prompt: Today, write your own meditation on grief. Try using Brock’s form as the “container” for your poem: a few short stanzas, with a middle section in which a question is repeated with different answers given. Continue reading Premonition is an Unwanted Thing

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Lost Purpose Dancing Backwards

Charlotte Hamrick

Lost Purpose Dancing BackwardsNeeded: amends for an old ghost, some form of recompense.Red light travels the most milesthrough the atmosphere & bitterto no end, we become the red tapewe rue. If we name this in our headsWill it go away? I’m dancing this ghostpen between you and me; I’ll writeyou into a place as your face foldsinto your crane neck. I will returnat night and stare into your eyes.(Your warm spot is not yours; this I know.You live by the fact of the sun; this I know.)Credits:“Local Legends” by Kare Head in Lost on Purpose“There are No Warning Signs” by … Continue reading Lost Purpose Dancing Backwards

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All I Want

Charlotte Hamrick

All I WantI am not a starfishI’m a woman of earth and boneOf rock and rocky wordsWhich I do not hide behindI speak clearly which sometimesIs perceived as bluntBlunt is good, there’s no confusionWith bluntI am not a starfishI have always had a plan althoughSometimes I floatI suppose that is starfish-ishWe should be flexible when neededI am not a starfishButWe both have predators so We both keep our eyes openHer five and my twoStarfish will sacrifice a limbTo evade a predatorI will sacrifice complacencyI am not a starfishI cannot change colors butI can change my mindIf respectfully presented with facts … Continue reading All I Want

My Poetry, Na/GloPoWriMo 2026, Poetry, Rhyme3 Comments

My Backyard

Charlotte Hamrick

My BackyardBirds & squirrels & cats on the prowlTwo dogs running, hear them howlSun & flowers & butterflies galoreAll the things that I adore Na/GloPoWriMo day 7 prompt is to write a sing-songy rhymed poem. I’m not good at rhyming and it’s not a form I particularly like so mine is short today. I didn’t get around to yesterday’s prompt but I really like the example poem. I hope to make it up. Continue reading My Backyard