Poetry Prompts

[tonyv]

Here is a list of prompts to help with ideas for new poems. This idea was conceived by Goldenlangur to encourage writing in the Prose forum. Golden has suggested that the prompts could also be useful for writing poetry, so they will appear here in the Playground. When posting a poem that was inspired by a prompt as a new topic in the Poetry Playground, please put the name of the prompt and the date, like this -- 19.2.8 - Musty boxes of memories -- after your title. Of course, you are also free to post the poems elsewhere on the board in accordance with the rules stated in the Welcome section …  

I've linked some of the poems inspired by these prompts.  If you choose to use a prompt from this page, let Tinker know and she will link your poem to the appropriate prompt also.   This way we inspire each other.

All Night   Soldier's Bride The first time   It Came Down                Stone Bridge  Devil's Bridge  Feverish Slumber  Aftermath Etched    Crystal Vase Rim     Breaking Free In denial  Contours  The moment  Memory  Letting go  Secret garden  A miracle  Never again  Never knowing.  Winter sun  Feverish dream  The parasite  Fencing off     Fencing Off Fog  Forgotten Melody.  The Last Boat. Fishing     Lake Powell Persimmon Buds  Blue Bell Woods  Nesting Birds  Easter  New Wool  Lambing  2019 #12 haiku Rite of Spring  Kite Festival  Mask Dances  fiesta Empty Page Chance Meeting Unfathomable Untimely Reunion Sting in the tail

Pageant Aberration Pollywog Apple Blossoms Hummingbirds Last Snow Accursed.  Horizon  Closure  Cacophony  Dilemma  Eclipse  Limpid   Paradise  Sunless Sky  Empty Promises (inspired by Aleksandra's poem)              Recurring Dream  Face to Face  Facetime  Last Train  Your Eyes.  Spring Moon  Renewal  Sanctuary  Unknown  Last Call  Unfinished  Self-hypnosis Talisman  Quarantine  Wing print  Sanity  The Past  Bi-polar  Metamorphosis  Choice  Silence  No Words

Sentences    -- These too can be used for poems:                          Crossing the threshold I...  What do I know?  Through the open window...  Another visit ends...  Blinking in the sunlight...  The braille of your body...  Musty boxes of memories .. You were the only one ...  If you knew then... Whenever I pass this way...  In the shadows I saw...  Not for the first time  Sometimes it's best to.  Waiting for you to...  Sometimes I wonder …  In my headlights...  When the rains came  What is he doing at ….  Her warm breath is...  Through the flowers they...  On the first Spring dawn...  He coaxes from the ...  In lapis waters  Tanka #1 Forever in doubt ….  If only she had...  At the bar he saw..  Through a shattered windscreen ...  The sounds before I sleep ….  If nothing works ….  The phone rings and ...  Last time you said...  Holding hands we....  I saw a face at the upper window...  With unsteady hands he peels away.

However hard I try...  She and I are tethered to....  Beyond the hills there...  Over time one gets to...  When the time comes....  I remember the places...  It wouldn't be logical...  Conversations in restaurants...  Up the road the neighbors are...  It's not easy to...  There are several mirrors...  Do dreams hold the key to...  When did I last hear...  Unwittingly I disturb...  Is it indolence, ennui or something else which...  Lost for words....  Where in the world....  Driving away from...  He picks up a string of wooden beads...  Somewhere in the building a voice calls...  It wasn't supposed to...  I collided with ...  For a long time it seemed...  This was the first....  Looking around to park the car I...

So far, these Prompts have all been from Goldenlangur, but moderators are encouraged to contribute to the prompts in this thread, below this line ...

 

[Tinker]

Here I've been putting up daily prompts from another site and ignoring this pinned item.   A slew of prompts to inspire.   I do remember some of them I wrote a prose short story I guess from #19 Fencing Off that I called: 

 " Fencing off ".  

~~Tink 

[Tinker]

And it Came Down

Flakes
falling
to the ground
for the first time
this year.  Drifting snow,
swirling white and lively
only to melt when it lands 
on the waiting winter landscape,
wetting and cooling the sleeping earth
for future frosty flakes to stick and stay.
                               ~~ Judi Van Gorder

Prompt the first time

Verse form.   Count Down

I think I will work on this list.  I'm trying to write something every day.  I know you all are serious poets but if you don’t use it you could lose it.  I would be delighted if someone would join me.  Think of it as exercising your fingers.and your poetic muscles

 

[Tinker]

Devil's Bridge  Notes:

I'm still trying to create example poems for the multiple stanzaic and verse form as well as genres I've described in the Reference Forum.  So I'm using a prompt from Tony's list above to spark the content inspiration which I will try to deliver through a specific form or genre.
 

Prompt Stone Bridge:  This prompt sent me researching.  What I found:  There are 5 Devil's Bridges in Wales, many more through out Europe and more recent ones (1800s) in the US primarily in New England. These stone bridges built centuries ago were a mighty fete.   Very difficult and dangerous to build so the people needed help from the devil to overcome the obstacles.   The folk tales are all similar, a goat, a rabbit etc cross for the fated soul.

Verse Form  Utendi

[Tinker]

Prompt: all night  plus  a challenge from WCD to write a poem in 24 syllables including the word "portent".     I'm combining 2 prompts.
Believe it or not, this little poem won first place  at the WCD 24 syllable daily poem prompt "portent"

Soldier's Bride

All night she cried,
a portent of more nights to come,
in daylight she wore a smile,
waiting his return.
                      ~~jvg
 

[Tinker]

Prompt:  feverish slumber

Genre    Abstract Poetry      This will be a huge challenge for me.  I'll have to read a few more "Abstract Poems".  Although I think I understand it and try to explain it, I'm  not sure I can emulate it. My need for logic and order get in the way.  Sound and sight and texture to convey the emotion, isn't that what poets do anyway?  But Sitwell's poems kind of read like nonsense.  

Aftermath

Between sheets of umber,
tossing in feverish slumber.
On my chest an elephant sits,
crushing lungs, a camel spits.
The rattle of my breath
portents the snake of death 
sliding round my throat
choking the bleating goat.
Sweat glistens and prickles, 
drips from bumpy dill pickles.
Cooling cloth wipes my brow
soothing me to a placid cow.
               ~~Judi Van Gorder



 

[Tinker]

Prompt:  "etched"
Genre:  Vignette

Crystal Vessel

Etched upon a crystal vase
these words round the base,

"Beauty in things
exists in the mind
which contemplates them."*

Resting gently inside the vessel
are six long stems 
and rising above the mouth,
ringed by dainty baby's breath
and fanned by the forest's
green lace, are tight rosy buds
which in time will ease open,
blossoming with velvet soft
petals in passionate pastels,
then all too soon fade and fall.

In my mind, no denying,
living things, lovely in their dying.
                 ~~Judi Van Gorder

*David Hume 1711-1776 Of Tragedy
 

[Tinker]

Prompt:  rim

Invented verse form Vignette  

breaking free

balanced
on the earth's rim,
spring board to the
universe and beyond,
possibilities abound,
dare to soar
             ~~jvg

 

[Tinker]

Prompt:   in denial

Stanzaic form:  Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairnde Ocus Lethrannaigecht

x x (x x a)
x x x x x x b
x x (x x a)
x x x x x x b

[Tinker]

Form:  Tanka

Prompt: in lapis waters

2019 #1

In lapis waters,
gilded by the morning sun,
memories submerged
fathoms below,  swim slowly
to the surface, taunting me.
                           ~~jvg.  

[Tinker]

Prompt: lambing

2019 #12
muddy pregnant ewes
grazing in rain on hillside
lambing time soon
                ~~jvg

[tonyv]

Lambing time soon --
drink to get drunk, smoke to get high ...
Nodding off now.

[Tinker]

Oh I want to hit the like button so badly right now.  🐑  😍

[Tinker]

Here is a list of prompts from Katya the Poet @ Writing.com to help anyone stuck for something to jumpstart them while trying to write a poem a day.    I'm behind and owe 7 poems to bring me up to date.  OMG....

April 17 prompt: a poem based on a dream   On the Hill
April 18 prompt: an article of clothing    Sleepwear
April 19 prompt: a thread      This is My Tapestry
April 20 prompt: allow yourself some "drama"     Poetess Challenged
April 21 prompt: a body of water    The Pacific
April 22: a poem in the form of a letter   To Whom It May Concern
April 23: a poem that contains an argument     Pandemic
April 24: a package or a delivery    Delivered
April 25: muse on a disease or illness of any kind     Seasonal
April 26: help us hear a particular sound or sounds    Gratitude in Social Distancing
April 27: start a fire   Spark
April 28: poem based on a well-known painting or photograph (& provide a link to it!)  La Moulin de la Galette
April 29: poem embedding a quoted phrase (& cite it)              Pundit
April 30: resolve something in a poem (any sense of the word “resolve”)
 

[Tinker]

Delivered

It came UPS,
an ordinary brown box
6 x 8 x 6
with transparent tape
on the seams.
A droopy shaft arrow
swashed on the surface
announces "Amazon".
Finally!
It has arrived.
                              ~~Judi Van Gorder

April 24 Package or delivery

[Tinker]

Seasonal

itchy, juicy, sneezy
spew
symptoms of spring
               ~~jvg

 

April 25 muse on disease of illness of any kind

[Tinker]

Lake Powell

The placid glass
of the lake's surface
splashed
when a line was dropped
to find fish for a feast
from onboard the houseboat
anchored for the night
just offshore
of red rock risers,
monuments to a Mesolithic past.
The silence spiritual,
simply breathing
was a prayer.
         ~Judi Van Gorder

Prompt from beginning of thread ~~Fishing

[gurunAthan]

What do I know? Couples' Dilemma
(gurunAthan ramaNi: iambic hexameter)

What do I know, except to sit and watch the telly?
What do I know, except to cook and fill your belly?
What do I know, except to sweep and wash and clean?
What do I know, but mind, once you called me your queen!

What do I know, except my books, to read and write?
What do I know, except to sit and brood, be quiet!
What do I know, except the fact I'm never done!
What do we know, behold and hush, here comes our son!

08 Dec 2020

★★★★★