Prompts
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Place an animal in a poem. This non-human animal cannot speak (at least not in any language you comprehend). Why is the animal there? You can’t look away. Imagine how you’d like to understand this other creature’s way of life. How does this other animal pass time? What is their day like?
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Your boss throws an office party. You have to attend. No choice. How would you make this as enjoyable as possible (without getting fired on Monday)?
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Imagine you are on death row. What would you request for your last meal? What would be your final words? Try to avoid making this a rant about how you believe capital punishment is wrong.
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Favorite meals. What do you eat on your birthday and why? Is this different than what you requested for your birthday as a child?
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Escape. What were your escapes during the pandemic, even if/when you were unable to leave your apartment/house. Try not to mention that this was result of the pandemic. Try not to use the words pandemic, quarantine, isolation, social distancing, physical distancing.
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You find yourself abandoned in a foreign city. Google Translate is not going to help you get to the embassy immediately. You do not have a cell phone. You cannot ask someone else to use their phone. Let’s assume you will be rescued in someway by the end of the day and find a suitable place to rest – but you don’t know this at the time. Pretend you’re the sort of person who things work out for in these situations … don’t assume ill will is heading your way … think about what it could be like to walk around … people watching … looking around as if someone in this unknown place was going to provide you with essential information. Think of it like a puzzle, an escape room scenario.
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Include an accessory you sometimes wear/use (sunglasses, reading glasses, hat, walking stick, headband). Discuss the way you interact with this item. Not what it matters to you or why you need it. Instead, focus on the way you handle the item. The way you are constantly adjusting your glasses, for example. The way you need to adjust the volume on your hearing aids based on who is speaking with you. Why you let your watch or jewelry be more or less visible at a restaurant or bar.
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Gift. Give a bad gift by accident. Try to explain why it was a misunderstanding. Walk back the gift. Try to explain to the person how it’s a reflection on you and not them. You want to salvage the relationship. You thought you knew this person extremely well but the look on their face when they opened the gift revealed that you do not.
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Set the poem on transportation: airplane, train, bus, Uber/Lyft, taxi, limo, RV, private jet, yacht, kayak, cruise ship, motorcycle, Vespa, helicopter, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) … There’s an argument and you want to ease the tension. What do you decide to talk about? What’s something you can talk about that is engaging and can alter another person’s headspace.
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Be irrationally romantic. Make a grand gesture. What does this look like? How does it make you feel? Only share your side. Don’t let us know how the other person reacts (keep that a mystery).
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Involve creating and/or sitting around a firepit / campfire. This is not a ghost story. A friend tells you a dark secret. You’ve already committed to spend the night sleeping in a tent/cabin with this person. How are you going to make it comfortable enough to get yourself through the night.
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Have someone throw something. No one is badly injured. It’s not an antique. Someone present laughs. What is your mindset in this situation?
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Describe an outlandish business venture. Don’t worry about paying for it. What if it worked?
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Create a room with your ideal interior design. Is this a functional space? Is this tasteful according to conventional thinking? Is this a space your family and/or friends would like? Is this a space just for you? What would you want to be doing in this space? What kind of room is it? What activities would you want to do in this room?
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Lose an argument with a poet you revere. Don’t put words in anyone’s mouth. For example, say you talked to X poet you absolutely love and they completely disagree with you about another poet being talented. Or, they strongly dislike a book you love and you are too embarrassed to admit the book means a great deal to you.
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Poem with a view of the ocean
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Poem looking at the edge of a forest at dusk
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Poem featuring sand, clay, silt, peat, chalk, mud, loam
-sub-category: silty clay, sandy clay, clay loam
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Make up a scientific fact. Define it (so to speak). Make us want to know more.
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Look at Harper’s Findingsand use the out of context information as a jumping off point
-feel free to combine ideas from multiple findings
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Make the poem a gift. Your poem is priceless. The person it’s for desires this poem from you more than any material gift. Who do you want to need this poem? Choose a subject and consider why you are using this subject as a backdrop to the poem. Then write off the subject. Circle the subject (so to speak) by writing about this subject without saying what it is. Refer to Dana Gioia’s The Present for further food for thought.
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Listen to three songs from genres you do not usually access and incorporate the sentiments of each song into a poem.
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Cherry pick one line of ad copy from 20 ads (possibly from 2 very different types of magazines (say Guns & Ammo + Better Homes & Gardens). Rearrange the lines into five stanzas. Revise from this point to create a sense of narrative and intention.
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_ May 2021 _