I am grateful to Tresha Faye Haefner (and Ella Braden) for sharing this gorgeous poem by Dorianne Laux.

For the first prompt, take a concrete object (as Laux did with wound) and write your own definition for it. Expand upon that definition as if giving multiple uses (as with “wound” as a “flower” and then a “fire” but circle back to connect the two.

The second prompt is a writing exercise: take this poem and change all the nouns (and the verbs in order to make sense). Now take the third sentence you’ve made to use or another one of your choosing (preferably a sentence in which you’ve changed the verbs) as the first line of a new poem. Do change the first line’s and the entire poem’s structure—break that sentence into separate sentences, the poem into couplets or other form. Be sure to credit the poet for your inspiration.

For the third prompt, take the poet’s “what becomes of us once we’ve been torn apart and returned to our future” for a question to answer in a poem or short story.

Write a poem or story using the following list of words from the poem: “descent,” “scent,” “war,” “torches,” “tinder,” “flame,” “hands,” “torn,” “naked” and “scar.” Try to switch the nouns to verbs and vice versa. As an added constraint, let the poem be a love poem or the story a romance.

The last prompt is to use the line “Say goodbye to disaster” as a title for a poem or story.

Good luck writing! Have fun!