So my vacation did not lend itself to poetry…my head was too full of conversation scraps and scenery to settle into a writing space. Perhaps because of my own jumbled chaos, I am particularly attracted to structured prompts at the moment. Here is a prompt that poet Todd Dillard posted and agreed to allow me to share:

I particular like this because this prompt could be the first line that you use to enter a surreal world but that you can then erase it as you would a ghostline if you like.

Bonus prompt: use the photo below as a metaphor for the layers (or teetering piles for me) of people and places within your memory. How does one event stack upon another and collect other memories or distinguish itself from another? What moments do you choose to gather? Which ones cannot you not let go?

And here is the evening sky from my vacation near the Buffalo River in the Ozarks.