I am back in California from Mississippi. Obviously behind on the challenge, I did finish my first book: Terri Niccum’s The Knife Thrower’s Daughter published by Moon Tide Press. Terri is in the same workshop I’m in, and I enjoy the generosity of her perspective demonstrated in her comments there and in the worlds she creates in her poems.

One of my favorite poems in the book is “What She Told the River.” I love the imagery and the sound of the language.

For the first prompt, address an aspect of nature in a series of requests: the ocean, a stone within a river’s current, a tree clinging to a cliff side, a half-blown dandelion. Make a list of possible objects—living or not—and create a second list of qualities: resiliency, longevity, belonging, etc. Mix and match the answers. Or take one object/phenomenon and write a poem requesting a particular quality you wish to embody as it does.

For a second prompt, use the line “Make my journey a wet undoing” as a ghostline and go from there. Remember to erase the line and credit Terri with the inspiration.

For a writing exercise prompt, take the poem and use antonyms for the nouns and/or verbs. See what happens. Because the structure will be too similar to the original, this is just a writing exercise.

Have fun reading and writing this month!