Revenge Redux—Prompts!

Hey, I found a great revenge poem that I should have included with Thursday’s blog post prompts and added more prompts to that.

The first prompt is to threaten to put someone’s name in your poem or story and why that person deserves to be shamed. If you decide to use the same title, be sure to credit Katie Berta for your inspiration.

The second prompt is to write a list of all the things you wish you had said to a person who treated you badly. Next write a list of crimes by a famous cartoon villain. Now mix and match, using at least three of your imagined retorts with at least three supervillain crimes. Your title should indicate that this is a letter (perhaps unsent) from a superhero or famous “good guy” to the villain.

For the third prompt, write a letter by hand, addressed to someone who hurt or betrayed you. List all the terrible things the person said or did to you. Burn the sheet of paper until only ashes are left. Scatter the ashes on grass, at the base of a tree, on a flowerbed, in a lake or river or the ocean. Now write a poem or story about letting go.

For the next prompt, describe what you wear if you wished to wear the “fur” of your enemy? A mummy-costume of bills and grocery receipts or collage of rejection letters? Maybe dress up as the box for an HP ink cartridge? The Jordache jeans and feathered hair of your fourth-grade nemesis? A suit made of alarm clocks, calendars and to-do lists? A TSA agent uniform in honor of your last flight’s pat-down? A replica of a McDonald’s manager uniform? Be petty.

Bonus prompt: Choose your weapon and explain why in a poem or short story (can be a weapon not shown here in the photo of an exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art).

Good luck! Have fun!