Here is a powerful poem by Lisel Mueller. Notice how everyday language is transformed by its arrangement, how visual it can become with a skilled writer. Thank you, Anthony Robinson, for sharing!!!

For the first prompt, use the last lines “Inside the house / the mirrors burn when I pass” for a ghostline. See where that line takes you. Remember to erase the line after you’ve written your poem and credit the poet with an “after Lisel Mueller” statement or another acknowledgment.

The second prompt is a Mad Libs writing exercise: replace the nouns and verbs with their opposites. If you discover a line you particularly like, use that line as your very own ghostline for a poem or short story.

The third prompt is another writing exercise, creating a poem structured similar to this one. Use your title to indicate time: night or sunset or perhaps the day of the week or a season, whatever you like. Your first line(s) will introduce an action as if it part of a script or story (that happens or doesn’t happen in the aforementioned period of time). The second line(s) will refer to the time introduced in the title with perhaps additional detail (season or time of day or a month) and offers an action. The third line(s) will reinforce the theme of plot, story, fate, etc. and will either prevent the action or erase its consequence. The last line(s) will end on an evocative image. Again this is just for practice and the resulting poem may be too similar to the original for publication.

For a final prompt, write a story or poem that uses the following word list: “even,” “calls,” “stone,” “summer,” “outside,” “opens,” “inside,” “mirrors” and “pass.” Try to switch the parts of speech/word classes.

Bonus prompt: write a story or poem based on this photo.

Good luck writing! Have fun!