Like Philippa, I love Louis Gilmore’s “Improvisation” but do not (or no longer) find it romantic. It feels more like a creepy threat. I like horror-inspired poems though: throw in an octopus, a caterpillar stalker and god-possession, and I am game.
For the first prompt, write your own creepy stalker poem but not to a person; perhaps address it to your favorite candy bar or the car you wish you could afford.
The second prompt is to write the stalker poem or short story from one of the creatures/jealous gods included in the poem.
The third prompt is to write from the perspective of someone fleeing a possessive god. Where can you flee a potentially all-knowing, all-seeing, omnipotent being?
For the fourth prompt, write an essay about a past experience with this destructive kind of infatuation, either an experience of your own or that of a loved one’s and how this experience fits with gender expectations, rape culture and domestic abuse.
The last prompt is to write a poem or story using the following list of words: “watch,” “thousand,” “track,” “feet,” “hold,” “arms,”“love,“ “lives,” “possess” and “three.”
Bonus prompt: write a love poem to this gorgeous caterpillar. Don’t be creepy though. Or “ship” this catepillar with the one I saw in Minnesota:
Good luck writing!