I hope your Sunday is a good one. Perhaps you are trying to catch up on poems as I am. May this poem, its lovely catalog of joys, its generous spirit and its use of the abecedarian form all inspire you to cherish the day.
If you would like to hear the poet read Our Book of Delights aloud, click this link: https://poets.org/poem/our-book-delights.
For the first prompt, write an abecedarian of your own, a form in which the first letter of each line is in alphabetical order. If you would like the form’s history and more examples from the Academy of American Poets, here is the link: https://poets.org/glossary/abecedarian.
The second prompt is to write a poem starting with the line “Open the door. No one can” and completing the statement with your own verb. Remember to italicize the line or place it within quotation marks, crediting the poet in an after statement or in your title.
The third prompt is to describe spring in your area—the weather, wildlife and vegetation—as lushly as you can. Overindulge yourself; be lavish in your praise and excessive in your delight.
The fourth is to begin a poem or stanza with a barefoot child, that memory or image, and see where it takes you.
The next is of course the inevitable wordlist: “drizzle,” “tropical,” “palms,” “sugar,” “hand-picked,” “braiding,” “wine,” “surprise,” “match,” “bread,” “enough,” “door,” “zigzagging” and “coming.”
For the last prompt, read the poem aloud (or listen to the poet reading her poem) and write down the words that most resonate for you. That list will be your own from which to build a poem.
Bonus prompt: write about running water, moss and ferns or whatever comes to mind from this photo.