Today is my father’s birthday, so I wanted to focus on father prompts and also fangirl this brilliant poem.

For the first prompt, collect five pictures of your father taken at different points in time, or of a powerful mentor if you prefer. What does his expression tell you about the time and him? How has he aged? Has you relationship changed? If so, how? Describe the last time you saw him in person.

For the second prompt, write a poem using the following words from the poem: “twist,” “frozen,” “saved,” “animal,” “smoke,” “surprise,” “serene,” and “whisper” but use at least two of the words twice.

For a third prompt, use the “We talked until” as a ghostline and be sure to give the poet credit. To read more poems by W. Todd Kaneko, check out the poet’s website.