Dress a Mannequin, Not Yourself—Prompts for the Pantsless

So here we are: most of us are stressed and pajama’d in our houses. What to do? Write some poems of course! Now you can finally meet the challenge of writing a poem for every day in April and earn fame and glory for generations. Or perhaps you can just write a poem while telling your kids it’s not their turn to use the computer and give you five more minutes and then they can play Minecraft.

The first prompt is by Matthea Harvey and published in a collection of prompts Swallow Cinnamon, Plant An Acorn. Although Rosebud Ben-Oni’s “Somewhere Thuban is Fading” doesn’t follow the prompts instructions, it does mention both pants and mannequins. I hope you like it as much as I do.

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For the next prompt, write about where your pajamas take now that there is no place to go; create a new reality, one that doesn’t follow the normal rules of time and space and matter. For a sample poem, read “SS Nevertheless” by David Hernandez. So lovely.

For the last prompt, write about the nightmares of attending school or work without pants but recreate the discombobulation of a dream. Sew a tapestry of various dreams into an ethereal landscape. Check out Lisa Olstein’s “Fort Night” and notice the opening lines in particular.

Go Forth and Write the Wrongs, Pantsless One!

Good Luck!