I am reposting this since I apparently was very tired and couldn’t read properly—two of the poems are from Tom Snarsky and two are from John Ashbery (and autocorrect changed the spelling of Ashbery’s name). Wow, that’s embarrassing! I need to write prompts during the day from now on!

Today is John Ashbery’s birthday, so let’s celebrate with two of his poems and to Tom Snarsky who is a great poet to follow. I posted all four but only want to focus on one. The other three are bonus poems for tonight.

This poem in particular resonated with me—its imagery and that final line.

The first prompt is to use the poem’s first line as a ghostline. See where it takes you. Remember to delete the line after you’ve finished your poem and credit the poet in an after statement or in the title.

The second is to Mad Lib the second couplet for a writing exercise: _______ is an extended metaphor for / ________, which is half of what _______ does. / The other half is _______ for ________. Now write a poem or short story that develops this idea. Don’t use the lines themselves or do so only as the jumping off point from which you later delete.

For a third prompt, write a poem or story using the following word list: “coats,” “layered,” “unblended,” “shade,” “cool,” “angle,” “brush,” “extended,” “half” and “light.”

Here is the other Snarksky poem and the two Ashbery poems.

For the next prompt, write a poem or story about miscommunication that uses technical terms from a scientific field. Throw in a conspiracy for fun.

For the prompt based on this poem, write a poem or story using the following word list: “logic,” “climate,” “tender,” “turns,” “mountain,” “pouring,” “monument,” “wind, “starching” and “broke.”

The next prompt is to answer this poem’s repeated question (but without the ducks).

The final prompt is print out each of these poems, cut out each word separately and arrange them as you into new lines.

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

Good luck! Have fun!