prompts – One Way to Wonder

In the Company of ________: The Poem

Every Wednesday throughout the year, Robert Lee Brewer offers a fresh poetry prompt on his blog Poetic Asides. This week is his two hundredth!

He challenges his readers to write a poem titled “In the Company of __________.” Fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind. Click on the link to read the responses.

Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 200 | In the Company of Blank Poems | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

In the Company of Artists

when I was a child

I sat in the corner

and listened as my

parents laughed

and talked with their

friends in our tiny

walk-up apartment.

Once, at Christmas,

someone brought

my father a rainbow

box of colors and I

thought how wonderful

to play a whole

life long.

When I was a child

I stood low

and watched

as men in suits

and women in

best dresses

spoke softly,

admiring paintings

on the walls

of one or another

gallery and I thought

how wonderful

to share a whole

life long.

When I was a child

I sat very still

in the back

of my father’s

friend’s car

and watched

them paint the

afternoon, she

in the front seat,

he by the road

and I thought

how wonderful

to keep a whole

life long.

Write a Poem About Birth

We are nearing the end of the Poem a Day challenge on Robert Lee Brewer’s blog. It has been an interesting experience. I will either continue with my own prompts or find another community. You are certainly welcome to join me by posting in the comments.

Today’s prompt at PAD is to write a poem about giving birth. Click on the link to add your own. You can join in any time.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 29 | Birth Poem | Experience | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

I kept telling

myself that

the Queens of England

did this

as I lay on the table

under blazing lights

coming undone

the most

private places

in full view

of strangers,

And then, the doctor

said, “He’s going

to be smart.”

A nurse said,

“What a pretty

little face.”

It was like

the blessing

in a fairy tale,

especially when

eyes still blue

as heaven

cast their

virgin gaze

on me.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com

Today, participants in this year’s Poem a Day Challenge are writing a hero poem or a villain poem. Click on the link below to join the fun.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com.

The Villain

It doesn’t wear black

or lurk in alleys.

It doesn’t dwell

in putrid swamps

or waylay travelers.

It doesn’t creep

around in the dark

or carry knives.

It loathes all

drama.

It resists all

change.

It has no conception

of better.

It wants everything

to stay

the same.

Child of long

evolution,

Advocate of

unconditional survival,

it does not

trust aspiration.

It does not suffer

dreams. It keeps

me heavy and silent.

It cautions me

to remain safe

inside.

via 2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 26 | Collection Poem | WritersDigest.com

Today’s challenge is to write a collection poem. Not everyone collects things, but a glance around our house would tell you that my husband and I do. He does it in a more organized way. My gatherings are distinctly haphazard.

Click on the link to go to Robert Lee Brewer’s blog and read the contributions of others. Then, add your own.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 26 | Collection Poem | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

JPEGs

They fill

the silvery

surfaces of

computer disks,

the hidden

resources

of external

drives, cloud-tops

from long flights,

footprints in snow,

drifting gold

leaves, glinting

sun on summer

lakes, blossoms

in spring orchards,

baby faces,

smiling friends,

all of them

held in virtual

memory, formatted

in universal jpeg.

Like Midas, I run

them through

my fingers,

longing to

hold on.

Write an Opposite Poem

Today’s challenge on Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides Blog is to write an Opposite poem, using a previous challenge post as its basis. If you have not been participating, you can scan the previous prompts on the blog and take the opposite point of view, choose a poem by a famous poet and write a contrary reply, or do the same with a poem of your own. I looked over the poems I have written for the challenge this year and decided to use the one I wrote yesterday, “The Truth About Art.” I wrote “Lies About Art.”

To read a fascinating collection of replies to this prompt, click on the link, and then, if you feel inspired, add one of your own. Anybody can join in the fun. You have to register for the blog to post, but it’s very easy.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 25 | Opposite Poem | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s my poem:

Lies About Art

The harder

it is the better,

after all,

it’s about

the skill,

the height

of the leap,

the length

of the note,

the flawless

reproduction

of a photograph

in an unforgiving

medium.

The best

is dearest,

after all

experts know

a fine

investment

when they

see one

and no

great poet

has died

unknown.

It takes

years to learn,

after all,

the wheel

has been invented

and there are

so many

conventions

to attend.

Besides,

who would

want

to be called

a child?

Write a “The Truth About ________” Poem (Day 24 PAD Challenge)

For today, the prompt is provocative. Fill in the blank to create your title: The Truth About ____________.

Click on the link to read all the responses and then add your own.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 24 | The Truth About Poetry | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

The Truth About Art

It is a field

without a road

a forest

without a path

the vastness

of a rolling

sea. Though

many have gone

this way before,

none has passed

this particular

way. Though

many can help

with packing

and advice

none can come

along all

the way.

It is a journey

without an

end, a quest

for a cup

that can never

be held

in a hand.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 16 | Last Line First Poem | WritersDigest.com

My warm up poem ideas for November are all from Robert Brewer’s blog Poetic Asides. Each prompt this month was contributed by a different poet. This one is from Joseph Wells. He suggests that we take the last line of yesterday’s poem and use it for the first line of today’s.

If you did not write a poem yesterday, I guess you can use an old one. Nobody will care.

My poem yesterday was a riff on the saying about the rich man, heaven, and the eye of a needle. I heard somewhere that The Eye of the Needle was actually a city gate, so that’s what my poem was about. The last line was “of a needle”. What do you do with that? Actually, I had fun.

Read the poems of others in the group and add one of your own. You can join the challenge any time.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 16 | Last Line First Poem | WritersDigest.com.

Of the Needle

Of the needle

I need to say

little, as it so

readily makes

its own point,

leading the way

among crisscrossed

threads, pulling

a joiner behind,

teasing notes

out of grooves

in vinyl or just

teasing someone

who may or may

not be a friend,

towering in

freestanding

stone in a canyon

or in steel

among city

skyscrapers

of the needle

I need to say little

as it so readily

makes its own point.

Blockbuster Hints from Agent Donald Maass

Follow the link below to a list of blockbuster novel hints from super agent Donald Maass.

If you ever have a chance to take one of his workshops, don’t miss it! His books are great, too.

Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Create Poetry Postcards or Greeting Cards Like These

Broadsides: Home: Zazzle.com Store

Use Zazzle to create original poetry trading cards or photo cards for your next poetry reading or for your writing club. Here are mine. You can change the pictures and poems to make them your own, or just use them for samples and create your own from scratch.

Zazzle does great work! I’d love to see a group of poets based there.

Broadsides: Home: Zazzle.com Store.

Picture Prompts « Writing@lasesana

Here are more great writing prompts. These are photographs. Pick one and go for it. (Or hang around and read more entries from Writing@lasesana.)

Picture Prompts « Writing@lasesana.

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