Lia Purpura’s “Resolution” hits hard for me. Too often I have held back, thought I should not put myself forward, let fear prevent me from trying something new, denied myself a pleasure to balance a regret only to make more of both. I love how she hears “more” in “morning” and makes music from regrets and reprimands.

I enjoyed her reflection on the poem: “The way whole words and sounds nest in other words and sounds kept the surprises coming. By just recognizing kinned sounds, the poem spoke itself into being in a way that felt independent of my making.” Click here to access the Academy of American Poets website, where you can listen to her read the poem (and also where the quote is published).

The coming year will be a rough one—already our little boats are bobbing wildly on a rising sea of war, genocide, fascism, natural disasters and uncertainty. We know all that we should do but won’t and all that we shouldn’t do but will, so let’s do what we must to moor ourselves to the day.

Let’s have that piece of cake before dinner, before our vegetables even. Yes, we will eat them too, but we can start out with the cake to make sure there’s room. Let’s binge on a comic book or romance or poetry chapbook—whatever will provide a happy escape from bills and the news. We will be good as we can and enjoy the day while we can. Let’s have more.

For the first prompt, use the poem’s first line, “There’s the thing I shouldn’t do” as a ghostline. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

The second prompt is to write a poem interchanging the words present as in gift with present and present as in now.

The next prompt is to come up with your own nested words to build a poem or a story around. Think of how end is held within friend, that the spelling of a part and apart is the opposite of their meaning, how contradictory sanguine is—both optimistic and bloodthirsty—that words and phrases can have opposite meanings (see this list of contronyms for more examples), or a small word like go can contain so many meanings.

For the last prompt, make a list of necessary tasks and a second list of rewards to give yourself. Burn the first list and write a list poem or short story with the second. Enjoy the smoke.

Bonus prompt: write about this reward (it was delicious) or your favorite dessert.

Write what you want. Have fun!