NaPoWriMo Day 13: The number 13 is often considered unlucky, so today I’d like to challenge you to beat the bad luck away with a poem inspired by fortune cookies. You could write a poem made up entirely of statements that predict the future (“You will meet a handsome stranger”), aphoristic statements (“The secret to … Continue reading Just Add “…In Bed”
NaPoWriMo
Anti-Woman Sentiment in Lit, Art & Tho’t
NaPoWriMo Day 12: Today, I challenge you to write your own index poem. You could start with found language from an actual index, or you could invent an index, somewhat in the style of this poem by Thomas Brendler. Happy writing! Masturbation in women, 66-81; 74-75; 79-80, 91, 99, 125, 134-36, 145-48, 178, 202, 248-50, 261, … Continue reading Anti-Woman Sentiment in Lit, Art & Tho’t
Minda
NaPoWriMo Day 11: Today, I challenge you to write a poem in which you closely describe an object or place, and then end with a much more abstract line that doesn’t seemingly have anything to do with that object or place, but which, of course, really does. I think of the “surprise” ending to this James … Continue reading Minda
The cocktail table tells her story
NaPoWriMo Day 10: I know yesterday’s was a hard one for many of you, although I also was also very touched by the vulnerability and bravery displayed in your poems! But today’s prompt should be a little bit less emotionally involving — a nice chaser for yesterday. Today’s prompt comes to us from Lillian Hallberg. She … Continue reading The cocktail table tells her story
Indecision becomes a decision with time
NaPoWriMo Day 9: This one sounds simple, but it can be pretty difficult. Today, I challenge you to write a poem that includes a line that you’re afraid to write. This might be because it expresses something very personal that makes you uncomfortable – either because of its content (“I always hated grandma”), or because … Continue reading Indecision becomes a decision with time
Admire From Afar
NaPoWriMo Day 8: It’s Friday, and writing poems isn’t easy! So let’s give ourselves a break with a simple prompt today. Poets have been writing about flowers since, oh, the dawn of time. So today, I challenge you to add your own poem to this long tradition, by finding a flower, and versifying in its … Continue reading Admire From Afar
One Cannot Attempt or Invent Perfection
NaPoWriMo Day 7: Our prompt for Day Seven comes to us from Gloria Gonsalves, who challenges us all to write a tritina. The tritina is a shorter cousin to the sestina, involving three, three-line stanzas, and a final concluding line. Three “end words” are used to conclude the lines of each stanza, in a set pattern of ABC, … Continue reading One Cannot Attempt or Invent Perfection
Skinny Bitch
NaPoWriMo Day 6: Today, I challenge you to write a poem about food. This could be a poem about a particular food, or about your relationship to food in general. Or it could simply be a poem relating an incident that involves food, like David Ignatow’s “The Bagel”. Still not convinced? Perhaps these thirteen food poems will give you … Continue reading Skinny Bitch
The Legend of Antirrhinum
NaPoWriMo Day 5: April is a time for planting things. At any rate, I’ve recently been paging through seed catalogs, many of which feature “heirloom” seeds with fabulous names. Consider the “Old Ivory Egg” tomato, the “Ozark Razorback” or “Fast Lady” cow-pea, “Neal’s Paymaster” dent corn, or the “Tongues of Fire” bush bean. Today, I … Continue reading The Legend of Antirrhinum
But the Distance
NaPoWriMo Day 4: In his poem “The Wasteland,” T.S. Eliot famously declared that “April is the cruelest month.” But is it? I’d have thought February. Today I challenge you to write a poem in which you explore what you think is the cruelest month, and why. Perhaps it’s September, because kids have to go back to school. … Continue reading But the Distance
