I appreciate the bleak humor of this poem. The “launch it like a football” made me laugh. I have a feeling the upcoming funerals and my own will also involve farce. The number of car fires, unintended crimes, unexpected consequences of hubris and sheer bad luck of my family would make a failed sitcom for its improbability.
To read about what inspired this poem and hear the poet read “To the Sea” aloud, click on the link: https://poets.org/poem/sea-3.
For the first prompt, write of a funeral or wake or your first brush with death after the initial shock and grief has subsided. Most of the funerals for my elderly family members have included laughter and storytelling, an appreciation of their long life and influence. This celebration of course is impossible for younger loved ones lost unexpectedly.
The second prompt is to write a narrative poem about a wedding or planned event that went all wrong (like my first wedding).
The third is to write a poem for all the tasks you aren’t (or weren’t) dressed for.
For the last prompt, write a poem using the following wordlist: “heft,” “wheel,” “launch,” “tide,” “kneeling,” “chest,” “docks,” “descend,” “bubbles” and “emerging.”
Bonus prompt: write about the endless crashing of waves, enduring and coming home.
Good luck!