61 Prompts for National Poetry Month – April 2020

61 Prompts for National Poetry Month – April 2020
o   Reflect on the first time you had a drinko   Your thoughts on suburban yardso   The way you take your coffeeo   Why your favorite time of day is your favorite time of dayo   Something you believe should be free for everyone o   List poem: your most disliked foods (why? related to a childhood experience?) o   Pet peeve about an exo   The feeling of your first big life losso   We talk about “skeletons in your closet” – imagine something disturbing / provocative you might literally find in the closet of someone you care abouto   Describe something that gives you joy but not your friends/family/partnero   What would you ask an Advice Columnist over a candid dinner?o   A charity you would give $$$ to if you won the lottery o   Reflect on the fact that you obviously care about the issue this charity was created to fundo   How an evening / weekend could make up for a terrible work day o   What scares you most about death?o   The family vacation that would have been a good memory [or] the family vacation that would’ve been a disastero   If you could know one thing about your future for sure what would it be?o   The best gift you’ve given / receivedo   Why are you wearing what you’re wearing in the pandemic? What does it signify for you? What is it you intend to convey?o   Where (places / countries) do the foods you eat come from? Where are the items you regularly use manufactured? Express gratitude to these places.o   What are aspects of your routine that make a day feel like a day. What happens if your self-care routine is disrupted? Reflect on what aspects of daily life overwhelm you the most.o   Persona poem: Imagine yourself as a celebrity you like but does not seem anything like you. Write about how it is / how it feels to walk a day in this person’s shoes as if you were them. o   Next: Write about how what you wrote is an absurd projection.o   Finally: Try to merge these (braid) into a new poem.o   Reflect on your best habits, worst habits, as seen through the eyes of others.o   Imagine The Devil walks among us. What would this change about your day to day? o   Imagine a cooler version of yourself. What stops you from taking on this perceived identity?o   What would you never do for money? Ok, now let’s say circumstances made you do that. Write from the position of yourself having been reduced to doing this thing that you never wanted to have to do.o   Imagine you committed a crime – (your choice!) – write your emotions.o   Imagine you’re colorblind. How would this change the experience of living in your everyday spaces? Try this prompt writing in different rooms (spaces) that you frequent.o   Picture yourself on a park bench. Imagine you see something shocking. No time to capture a photo. How would you describe this to a friend / loved one / stranger / police in a frenzied panic or simply shock & awe. o   Write a poem in which at least three primary or secondary colors appear.o   Write a poem in blank verse without any adjectives.o   Write a poem in which each stanza represents one place you’ve traveled. Attempt to avoid linear time.o   Write a poem in which God reaches out to you directly and expresses disapproval for something you’ve done. The poem is your defense.o   Persona poem: Write a poem in which you are a Queen / King / Princess / Prince.o   Epistolary (letter poem): Write a letter to your favorite musician. Express what their music has meant to you / how it has shaped your life.o   Write a poem in which you mention a color you have just invented.o   Do Over / The Mulligan: Write a poem in which you rewrite a personal historic moment so it goes the way you wanted it to go.o   Write a poem as if you live your life on a houseboat. It can be luxurious (a yacht) or humble. o   Take a moment to write a few words that describe your mood. Now, flip the script. Write a poem as if you are in the polar opposite mood. Use lots of white space or else make it very cramped. o   Magic 8 ball poem. Imagine zingers a Magic 8 ball *might* provide. Put each on it’s own line. Write an 8-line poem. Feel free to reference old fortune cookie fortunes you may or may not keep in your wallet.o   Write a sour poem. o   Think about the structure of days (a calendar / a schedule) that would be more suitable to your lifestyle / habits. What would this calendar look like? Write a day in the life of yourself living in this more habitable space.o   Think about the best possible news you might receive on the worst possible day. For example, what if you were proposed to by your spouse on 9/11. Keep in mind duende (light/dark), the dual nature / the double-edge of our moments. o   Consider how you would approach yourself at a party. Engage yourself in casual conversation and see where it goes.o   What would be your ideal birthday? Who is with you? What is the arc of your emotional landscape as the day opens, midday, closes?o   Stare at a blank screen. How does it make you feel? Reflect on your personal relationship with screens without specifically mentioning screens or screen time.o   Reflect on anti-resolutions. Play them out.o   Under what circumstances would you commit a crime? Imagine it happened. How would you get away with it? Assume you do get away with it. You now have to live with yourself. Write from the life station of that inner turmoil.o   What is the best thing you can buy for $10? $5? Why?o   What do you buy that feels like the most annoying use of your funds. Put another way, what do you hate spending money on. Write from that position of frustration.o   Write about the worst gift you’ve ever received. Real or imaginary.o   Honor your guilty pleasures. What do you enjoy that you are embarrassed you enjoy? This can be cheesy music, comfort foods, bad movies. Regardless, these low-key vices are a part of what makes us who we are. Reflect.o   Ode to the Futureo   Ode to the Pasto   Ode to What is Losto   Reflect on 3-5 of your favorite words. Try to use all of them in one poem. As a twist, try to use them in a context in which they would be unlikely to appear.o   Reflect on 3 things you’d want to know about a new town before you visited. How might this knowledge alter your experience of the upcoming visit?o   Think about something you have overheard. Or, imagine something spicy you might theoretically overhear. Imagine telling a friend or loved one the story and the back story you would use to frontload it.  o   Return to a poem you’ve already written and temporarily change pronouns. Consider if anything has changed in the poem and what revisions might make it more effective.o   Create a Saint. What acts did this person do to achieve sainthood? Imagine we lived in a society where we deified everyday heroes in a similar but secular manner. Reflect on a person you would place on the pedestal.o   Return to a poem you’ve already written and emphasize different senses. Maybe smells will now overshadow what was previously seen or heard.o   Imagine you pick up an old book and a letter falls out. The letter is from someone abroad to a person who grew up in your hometown but with a surname you’ve never heard. You have no connection with this person or their family. Reflect on what kind of information you might be interested to learn about the visitor’s long ago experience in your hometown. In short, try to imagine your hometown from an outsider’s perspective; an added twist is placing it in a historic rather than contemporary context.