I hope to get back on schedule after the holidays and even make up for the weeks I neglected to post. I suppose that will be my New Year‘s Resolution!
So let’s come back with a bang starting with a poem full of bangers: Kimberly Wolf’s “Mary Magdalene in the Wilderness” takes so many surprising turns and brings us to unexpected places.
If you want to read more by Kimberly Wolf, check out her website https://www.kimberlywolfpoet.com/ and buy her chapbook https://www.bullshitlit.com/shop/p/frogs!
The first prompt is only a Mad Lib writing exercise: Rewrite the poem, replacing as many of the verbs and nouns with your own. What happens? Did you find any lines you like with your replaced nouns and verbs? If so, use that line as a modified ghostline, beginning poem or story with it and then erasing it afterwards.
The second prompt is to write a poem or short story from the following word list: “laid,” “haunted,” “crowded,” “resurrect,” “escape,” “clouds,” “shoulders,” “hands,” “hallucinate“ and “temptations.” Or for a variation, read the poem aloud and underline the words that strike you and build from them. Notice how much impact alliteration and assonance have here.
The third prompt is to write a list poem or a short story of what you would do if you had the power to keep a lover from never escaping your presence or memory even after your death.
For another prompt, make two lists: a list of famous lovers or enemies (or alter the relationship between two famous historical or mythical figures) and a list of binary oppositions in an adjective-noun format, as “ruthless mercy” from the poem. Take the item from each list that resonates the strongest for you and build a poem or story around them.
The last prompt is to complete the sentence “Now he lives in the sky, his terrible” as your jumping off point. Remember, as with all ghostlines, to erase the line and credit the poet.
Bonus prompt: write a story or poem from the trees looking down upon your small self as you enter the forest carrying an ax or chainsaw. Let them win.
Good luck writing! Have fun!