“Someone has to”—Prompts Inspired by Wislawa Szymborska

So here we are in another bullshit war that will kill civilians, further destabilize an entire region, create refugees to be denied entry and their humanity, waste billions of money and justify the loss of more rights here and abroad, all cheered on by the same liars and racists but now with the bonus of genocide.

So here is a powerful poem about war, the slow rebuilding after loss and destruction and whatever lessons learned are forgotten. Yes, it is beautifully written—skillful use of sound and imagery—but the ones who need to read it won’t, so let’s write a poem to shout at the worthless fuckers.

For the first prompt, make a list of cleaning tasks or repairs. Now take that list and expand those tasks to a city or countryside awaiting destruction, reversing the order. End your poem or story with the first bomb dropped, bullet fired, a cloud spinning into a funnel, or the start of rain.

The second prompt is to look at the headlines advocating for this war and find out what the author did during the last war in Iraq. Take a previous op ed or article from that journalist or politician back then and collect the statements that apply to both wars for a list poem. Or make an erasure poem of either article.

For the third, write a story or poem using the following list of words: “tidy,” “rubble,” “sludge,” “shards,” “glaze,” “shirtsleeves,” “shreds,” “rusted,” “cornstalk” and “clouds.”

The next prompt is to write an essay or story about cleaning and rebuilding the exterior/physical that illustrates an emotional/interior healing or recovery.

Another prompt is to write a poem about starting a war or causing a disaster that repeats the phrase “someone has to.”

For the last, write an essay, poem or story to stop a tragedy. “Someone has to.”

Bonus prompt: write about this stand of pine trees lost to the waves from the perspective of the one tree that remains on the beach. Or write whatever this photo inspires.

Good luck.

Nature and Mercy—Prompts Inspired by Ross White

So much is happening now—violence and oppression, genocide and fascism—that it is difficult to think of anything else. If you can to write about the current horrors, please do. Your voice is needed. If you have to step away for a moment though, to gather your breath and strength, then Ross White’s poem may take you elsewhere for a bit.

For the first prompt, choose the perspective fairytale or mythical villain to write from in a story or poem.

For a second, make a list of animal pairs that are traditionally enemies or are predator and prey (fox and hen, cat and mouse, etc) and a second list of professions and their opposition (or again a predator/prey dynamic, perhaps such as police officer and peaceful protester). Now mix those lists and see what sparks your interest.

The third prompt is to write a list poem of what is in your or perhaps a character’s nature.

The last is to write a poem or story using the following list of words from the poem: “fable,” “nature,” “current,” “brush,” “parched,” “strokes,” “faith,” “carry,” “mercy” and “sting.”

Bonus prompt: write whatever this photo, taken with an app, makes you think of.

Good luck. Have fun writing!

Prompts Inspired by Alice Notley

The poetry community lost the powerful voice of Alice Notley. She profoundly influenced so many and will be missed.

For the first prompt, create a scene of you (or a character) walking toward someone.

The second prompt is to write a poem or story using the following words: “alive,” “bare,” “shoulders,” “shell,” “ruffled,” “translucent,” “transparent,” “empties” and “air,” trying to change the usage from verb to noun or vice versa.

The third is to use the first line, “When I was alive,” as a ghostline or as your title, giving credit to the poet.

The next prompt is a writing exercise: rewrite the poem, replacing the nouns with your own. Now see if there is a line that calls out to you. If so, that line will be the first line of a poem.

For another prompt, write a list poem of the things you’ve meant to tell someone but never did.

The last prompt is to choose either poem and write a response to it, either an essay or poem.

Good luck. Write what you need to write.

“where/extinct and extant split everything”—Prompts Inspired by Rose McLarney

I hope you are all surviving the disasters and destruction of democracy. It is particularly now that I find myself reaching for poems and stories for solace. Despite the loss central in the poem, the language and imagery in Rose McLarney’s “Fossils Aren’t Found in Appalachia” are so beautiful that I am pulled out of my own worries.

For the first prompt, take a pair of words similar in sound and/or spelling but contrasting in meaning and build a poem around that relationship.

The second prompt is to use “What we have to study of history” as a ghostline for a story or poem, using the line as the starting point and erasing it afterwards but remembering to credit the poet.

The third prompt is to write a story or poem about an object given to the narrator or a character from a loved one lost to time or death. The poem’s use of “room-filling light” and “animates” is so powerful placed before “lifted from the box,” “long lain” and “buried.” Gorgeous language.

For the next, write a poem or story using the following word list: “fossil,” “extant,” “gradation,” “lingering,” “ache,” “lifts,” “animates,” “remains,” “downstream,” “buoyant” and “together.” Or read the poem aloud, and write down the words that resonate for you. Notice the skilled use of alliteration and assonance (for example, “l” and long “a” sounds and later “s”).

For the last prompt, write about what is carried within your body; what stories does it hold?

Bonus prompt: write about a poem, story or essay whatever this image inspires.

Good luck writing! Have compassion for yourself.

Pleasure—in Honor of Martha Silano

I was so saddened to hear about the loss of Martha Silano whose poetry is inspiring and lush world building. Her “Everything Ends” seems particularly apt.

For the first prompt, provide your own response to the factual statement that everything ends. What drives you on?

The second prompt is to write a list poem of pleasures in your life with as much sensory detail as you can. Or you can describe a moment of intense sensory pleasure in a story or poem, emphasizing its transience.

The third is to write a poem or story describing a “planet without smoke.” What is this world? What creatures would live there? How would they eat and survive? How would the cycles of destruction and rebirth occur?

For the fourth, write a poem or story using the following list of words: “sultry,” “unravel,” “pant,” “brushfire,” “floodlit,” “seaweed,” “random,” “microbe,” “sharpening” and “catch.”

Bonus prompt: write a poem or story from the perspective of either the cardinal or the bottlebrush whose leaves and branches were killed by a winter storm but will regrow after cutting. Or write whatever the photo calls to mind.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Rain and Falling—Prompts Inspired by Jiang Jie and Eileen Chengyin Chow

I appreciate the work of translators so much—they bring beauty to those of us who would otherwise miss so much of the world’s light. This poem seems particularly relevant now, and its vivid imagery and skilled use of alliteration stirring. I hope you find it as comforting as I did.

For the first prompt, write a poem or short story in which the passage of time for the speaker is indicated by a recurring natural event: rain, as in this poem; sunset; the blooming of a particular flower; or perhaps the last leaf falling.

The second prompt is a longer process. First, make a list of five locations and five moments of intense change. Look at both lists and see which pair intrigues you and describe the location in as much sensory detail as you can remember. Now gradually change the details as the story or poem progresses: perhaps the light pattering rain becomes a downpour that transforms into raining spiders (this does happen in Brazil and others parts of the world) and eventually becomes a raining of all your (or your character’s) fears.

The third prompt is to write a poem or story with the following list of words: “candles,” “brocade,” “thatched,” “temples,” “skiff,” “buffeted,” “calling,” “speckled,” “reunions” and “dawn.”

The last is a writing exercise: rewrite the poem, replacing all the nouns in the poem with your own; afterward, choose the revised line you like best and write a story or poem with that line as your jumping off point.

I sometimes prefer the world somewhat blurry, softening the harsh outlines and divisions like an Impressionist painting. For your bonus prompt, take an image and move the narrative away until it blurs into the rest of the scene and everything seems to belong in harmony.

Have fun writing! Good luck!

A Heartbreaking World—Prompts Inspired by Cameron Awkward-Rich

So how has your 30/30 challenge gone? Last year I wrote at thirty poem drafts; this April, I wrote one poem. Last year I posted thirty prompts for the challenge, and, well, you know how few I’ve posted in comparison. I have gotten to hear amazing poets discuss their work and their processes and leave conferences inspired, only to sink back down in the anxiety and grief. I have found it difficult to know how to respond, how to resist, how to help.

We are all navigating dark times in the dark, so let’s reach out to another and work to build communities to protect and support everyone, especially those targeted. We can join existing organizations who are already doing great work and build local mutual aid groups of our neighbors. We also need to keep writing and communicating the truth and our values, and there again are groups of writers leading the way. Certainly, this poem by Cameron Awkward-Rich calls powerfully to our shared humanity, our shared vulnerability, our shared need for one another in a world that separates us in a myriad of ways.

For the first prompt, use antistrophe (words or phrases repeated at the end of lines) like the poem’s “it breaks my heart” in a list poem. Like “Meditations in an Emergency,” you can drop the phrase from the lines and use it to end the poem. The last repeated line with its one additional word makes me gasp.

For the second, use the line “There are no borders, only wind” as a ghostline, remembering to start the poem or story from it but erasing the line afterward and crediting the poet for your inspiration.

The third prompt is to write a poem or story from the following list of words: “wake,” “blinds,” “train,” “doves,” “tents,” “hawking,” “dream,” “borders,” “wind” and “institution.” Try to switch the verbs to nouns and vise versa if possible.

The last is to write a poem or story as you move from one part of a city or town to another, tying the people and sights you (or the narrator) see together into a unified world. Repetition is a useful tool for both unification and emphasis. You may find this article’s description of different methods of repetition helpful: https://writers.com/repetition-definition.

Bonus prompt: write a poem or story about either of these murals.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

A Bed for Spring—Prompts Inspired by Marion McCready

Well, this week did not goes as planned, so I did not post extra prompts as intended. I did have a chance to read some excellent poems though. “Iceland Poppies” is a gorgeous poem, weaving imagery and references to religion and death so beautifully. You can read other poems by Marion McCready in her book Madame Ecosse.

For the first prompt, reimagine the opening lines “I’ve been growing them in my garden / for some time now” as growing rows of tombstones or guns, perhaps from bullet seeds, rather than flowers. Or maybe you would rather write about something less deadly, a garden of sparklers or sea anemone or lollipops.

The second prompt is a writing exercise. Take penultimate stanza and Mad Libs swap out the nouns with your own. Once you have rewritten the stanza with your own nouns, use that as the opening of a narrative poem or story. See what happens. Treat the opening lines as a ghostline though, erasing them after you’ve finished.

For the third prompt, write a poem or story using the following list of words: “glories,” “pulsing,” “catches,” “stained,” “papery,” “roof,” “biting,” “green,” “window” and “dissolve.”

The last prompt is to make a list of five poisonous plants or deadly household items and five specific locations. See what combinations strike your interest and look up some facts about growing conditions or storage requirements for the poison and its historical use. Try not to have too much fun with the research part that you don’t write a poem or story, but wait a day or two before writing the poem. Let the information percolate through your daily routine.

Bonus prompt: write about a conversation among flowers.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Earth Day—Prompts Inspired by Jane Hirshfield

As you know, climate change is here. It is not too late for us to work together to minimize the harms. Each step we make can save ecosystems, species and the lives of humans, plants and animals. I am grateful I heard Jane Hirshfield read her poetry and discuss her project Poets for Science at AWP. Her poems and the motivation for the project are inspiring. Poetry can seem useless in a world full of loss and daily horrors, but art can build connections, inspire action and allow people a way to grieve and heal. Here is the project’s website if you would like to learn more: https://poetsforscience.org/.

For the first prompt, write a poem or story about denial—perhaps your own or another’s or an entire population’s. Pair it with a historical fact or a description of a creature looking away or in the wrong direction or believing itself safe or hidden—like my cat who hides his head under blankets and is shocked that we can find him.

For the second, describe an entire series of bizarre phenomena or catastrophes either above or behind a person or group of people that they have not yet noticed. End the poem or story before they do recognize the danger.

The third prompt is to write a poem that borrows the structure of “Let Them Not Say”: use anaphora (a repeated word or phrase that begins each line but with a contradicting statement or a justification for multiple stanzas; then abruptly switch to an image in the penultimate stanza and end with a stanza that connects the image to the previous rebuttals. If the structure follows the original too closely, then you will need to consider this a writing exercise. Exercises can be great ways to build up a repository of lines available for other poems or stories.

For the next prompt, use “Let them not say” as your first line, remembering as with all ghostlines to erase the line after you’ve written the poem and credit the poet for your inspiration either in your title or with “after Jane Hirshfield” under the title.

The last prompt is to write a poem or story using this list of words gathered from both poems: “ship,” “comprehended,” “heard”“trembled,” “spoken,” “voices,” “must,” “kerosene,” “warmed” and “praised.”

Bonus prompt: write a poem or story based on the image above.

I find it helpful to remember that fire can be both destructive and beneficial—some plants require fire for its seeds to germinate—and that change is here but we can work to preserve species and ecosystems and celebrate what remains.

Good luck. I hope you are enjoying April’s 30/30 challenge.

Relentlessly—Prompts Inspired by Kaveh Akbar

Well, last week did not go as planned, so I did not post extra prompts as promised. Perhaps this lovely poem by Kaveh Akbar will help make up for my lapse.

For the first prompt, make a list of what you don’t know—not necessarily about science, any subject or field will do, but try to be as specific as possible. Next make a list of favorite animal or plant facts. Compare the two lists and see what happens.

The second prompt is to create a metaphor for language—or its failure or absence—and build a story or poem around it.

The next is to create or pull from mythology a creature “that loves itself as relentlessly / as even the most miserable man” and build a story or poem around it.

For the last, write a poem or story using the following word list: “candle,” “certain,” “spare,” “lamplight,” “beast,” “seawater,” “doubt,” “bowing,” “lips” and “sleep.”

Bonus prompt: write a story or poem about whatever this photo inspires, perhaps a creature or an organ or an alien fruit.

Good luck with 30/30! Have fun!

Persistence in Failure to Success—Prompts Inspired by Elaine Ewart

Perhaps Elaine Ewart’s “Take the collared dove” best embodies the April 30/30 challenge for me: just persist. Writing every day this month will not lead to thirty poems that I can publish or perhaps even three poems that I can edit to something I am excited aobut, but instead this process will be thirty starts, thirty attempts, thirty practice sessions in which I made myself write and kept writing.

Notice that I omitted “leads” or its synonym in the blog post title since success reminds me too much of the South Park Underpants Gnomes profit meme. How I get to “success” or what success even is changes daily and may involve a Venn diagram, the map to a corn maze, a stranger’s blessing or a larger cup of coffee.

If you would like to visit Atrium for her poem, click on this link: https://atriumpoetry.com/2025/03/14/take-the-collared-dove-elaine-ewart/. Do check out more poems on the journal’s website; I really enjoyed what I found there. You can also find more of the poet’s writing on her blog: http://flightfeather.wordpress.com/.

For the first prompt, follow a similar structure (perhaps even a modified sonnet) with a kind of adage illustrated by some animal’s behavior or a specific example in the news or research and ending the poem with your current life.

The second prompt is to simply describe animal behavior—nesting or delivering its young or caring for them. Let your own experiences as parent or child color the description without overt comparisons.

The third is to write use the line “All they do is persist” as the first line of a poem or short story, remembering to credit the poet even if you later erase the line.

For the next, write a poem or story about “clumsy angels.”

For the last prompt, write a poem or short story using the following word list from the poem: “success,” “collared,” “twigs,” “shell,” “bracket,” “throng,” “clatter,” “hinge,” “unmade” and “carry.”

For a bonus prompt, write an epistolary (letter) poem addressed to this mother whose nest was provided for her. What could society provide for you or parent? If you would like sample poems, check out https://poets.org/glossary/epistolary-poem.

Good luck writing! Remember that the April challenge can be to create the practice of writing every day or to write more frequently. Just persist in trying to write more, and you will succeed (this of course is reminder to myself).

I hope you enjoy the process!

What’s Left—Prompts Inspired by Joseph Fasano

I heard a poet say that every poem is a love poem. I of course cannot remember who said that or when or even if I read it rather than heard the statement. Instead, I hear just the words themselves, without context or reference, in my own voice that I hear in my head when I read or am writing or editing, a voice that is nothing like the one I speak in.

This is a beautiful poem, fitting for the events happening now and what is rushing toward us, even those of us who have always before been the witnesses or who chose to turn away.

For the first prompt, write a story or poem using the line “And then, very softly, as the bootsteps came,” as your starting point. Whether you erase the line or keep it (italicized or quoted), remember to credit the poet.

The next prompt is to is to write a poem or story using the following list of words from the poem: “child,” “cellar,” “sky,” “falling,” “scrap,” “lifting,” “lips,” “rain,” “trees” and “joy.”

Last, write a love poem or story for the end times, for what love remains as long as you are here to carry it.

Good luck. Find some joy—make it—and share it.

Float—Prompts Inspired by Perceval Everett

I do appreciate all the new stories and poems I get to enjoy because of people posting their own and others’ on social media sites. I admit I do way too much doomscrolling, but the poems and stories people share are why I stay. The first stanza of this sonnet, that echo and inversion of the eight line in its last, and the imagery of “a bizarre fried blood-egg, the yolk of it” is worth the bad news and worse replies.

For the first prompt, write a poem or story, beginning with something you planted or built and including a shift, even if you prefer not to write a sonnet.

The second is to write a list poem of what “want[s] to float.”

For the third prompt, use the line “You take your chances when you praise” as a ghostline, the starting point for either a story or poem. Remember to erase the line and and credit the poet for your inspiration.

The last prompt is to write a story or poem using the following word list: “rose,” “supports,” “soil,” “fence,” “tough,” “chances,” “trench,” “float,” “dead,” “open.” Try to change the word’s part of speech, switch nouns to verbs and vice versa.

Bonus prompt: write whatever comes to mind from this photo of a yolk.

I will be at AWP this year and would love to chat about your process if you are there or at one of the offsite events.

Good luck with your writing! Have fun!

“Neuroses and Camaraderie”—Life and Writing Prompts Inspired by Rachel Lauren Myers

OMG, sometimes a poem just hits, and “Alternate Game Plan” by Rachel Lauren Myers certainly did. I need this poem on a t-shirt, as a reply to last month’s credit card bill, as the Ars Poetica I wish I’d written.

Ok, first prompt, write your own ars poetica. Bonus points if you reference clowns, cartoons, and/or cursed objects. For more discussion about the form and some sample poems, check out the American Academy of Poets website, https://poets.org/glossary/ars-poetica.

The second prompt is to write a story or poem based around “Build a hilltop of cursed” or “A temple to mediocrity.”

One of the aspects I love about this poem is its ability to so effectively combine conversational language with literary devices. Notice the repetition of the short “i” sound, especially in the lower third of the poem, and the “s” in “Listen: if this all goes to tits we’ll skip.” By randomly interspersing rhyming words (or slant rhymes) among lines rather than placing at the line’s end and escalating the repetition, the poem keeps building momentum without sacrificing surprise: “shit,” “manuscript,” “lit,” “relit,” “skits,” “it” and “tits” and the repetition of “Let them laugh at us.” For the third prompt, borrow a phrase from a friend and let that be the central message of your poem or story.

The next prompt is to write a poem or story using the following word list: “closing,” “dismount,” “address, “trust,” “cherry,” “asteroid,” “hilltop,” “temple,” “oil,” “hacks” and “laugh.”

For another prompt, write an essay or poem about what your characters have given up.

Write a list poem about what you will do if you someone laughs at your writing.

The last prompt is to base a poem or story on a similar structure: begin by addressing someone else about a shared worry or insecurity, include a description of spilling or dropping something or other clumsy/forgetful moment, and end on an assurance about the original concern.

Bonus prompt: write a poem or story based on the photograph I took in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Good luck writing! Have fun and support each other; times are hard.

Body for Writing—Prompt by Han VanderHart

I am still working on a longer prompt but wanted to get one out this weekend, so here is a great prompt by a poet I very much admire, Han VanderHart.

Bonus prompt: write an essay, poem or story that works in one or more of common phrases that include the word “body” in them and juxtapose the phrase(s) to the experience of your own body, its location, interactions and value in the world. Here is a list that you can look through to see what clicks for you: “body politic,” “body count,” “body double,” “body check,” “body bag,” “body pillow,” “body of evidence,” “body of work,” “body of water,” “beach body,” “mind and body,” “body and soul,” “the body of the email,” “bodybuilding” and “body shop.”

For a variation on this prompt, take one of the common “body of (something)” phrases and reimagine its parts. For example, what would the physical parts of a “body of work” be? How would they function and what are their vulnerabilities?

Bonus bonus prompt: what objects—whether found or gathered or constructed—would you rebuild yourself with? What parts of yourself would you keep?

Good luck writing! Have fun!

“Love the unloved”—Prompts Inspired by Nicolette Sowder

As someone who hunts for dandelions, earthworms, frogs, snails, mushrooms and muddy moss for admiring portraits, I immediately loved this poem, although I am doubtful of my contribution as an adult. Btw, I find many great poems by following Joseph Fasano, who is also a great poet.

For the first prompt, write a poem praising something usually overlooked or even considered “ugly” or “gross” to many people, such as a turkey vulture gliding on thermals or a glittery snail streak. Be exuberant in your admiration.

The second prompt is to write a poem, story or essay centering on someone in your daily life or society whose contribution is ignored. Perhaps you can write about the garbage collector or plumber. I certainly was grateful to the plumber who came out every time the sewer backed up into the basement, where the laundry and only shower was located, in the house I rented in grad school—my hero! This is the time to thank those in often thankless jobs that keep us and our surroundings clean and healthy and comfortable.

For a third, write a poem or story using the following list of words: “raise,” “dandelion,” “sense,” “needs,” “thorn,” “rainswept,” “grown,” “voice,” “bond” and “tender.”

The next is to write a poem or story from the perspective of moss or lichen, of the barnacle or skittering crab, of worms and minnows or anything that may have a viewpoint you need to share.

For the last prompt, write about the ecosystem of microorganisms that make up you. Write about the minuscule critters living on your eyelashes, the gut flora that is unique to you, or any of the other microbiota you are in a symbiotic relationship with.

Bonus prompt: write an adventure story using the title given, or write an ekphrastic poem with the photo.

And above is another photo prompt you can use if you wish. I found this on a walk in Kiln, MS. I loved how soft and pillowy it looks (but didn’t touch, alas).

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Hearts for Valentine’s Day—Prompts Inspired by Rita Dove

I adore how Rita Dove takes the overused metaphors of the heart and makes love tangible. If you would like to listen to her read this wonderful love poem and also finish what she says about it, please click on the link. https://poets.org/poem/heart-heart

For the first prompt, make a list of clichés about love or loss or any other common subject in poetry and then debunk them with facts and a literal interpretation of the metaphors, ending with a statement powerful in its simple honesty and accuracy.

The second prompt is to write a love poem or story that never uses the word “love” but uses actions and the setting to convey the emotion, and remember this can be about any kind of love, not only the romantic kind. Or write an essay that again never says love, but show it in your remembrance of someone, their words, their kindnesses, their presence in a room.

For a third, write a poem or story using the following list of words from the poem: “melt,” “harden,” “yearning,” “clutch,” “muscle,” “cage,” “key,” “wear,” “bottom” and “take.”

Finally, write a poem about an object or emotion by only saying what it is not. Never name it.

Bonus prompt: write whatever comes to mind with this photo.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

“Listing Along”—Prompts Inspired by Megan McDermott

I started this blog post weeks ago but found it impossible to write or even concentrate with all the terrible news. I will try to catch up and be more consistent (yes, I know I said that last month), but this will be, as always, a work in progress with frequent missteps.

While I had difficulty coming up with any creativity of my own, I found this poem fulfilling, humorous and insightful on each read through and comforting to my former desperately lonely self. The skillful repetition both unifies and moves the poem into new directions. This poem and others by the poet can be found in this issue of Anthropocene at https://www.anthropocenepoetry.org/post/megan-mcdermott-this-morning-my-therapist-suggested-reciting-positive-affirmations-about-my-dating

For the first prompt, use the line “This will not actually kill” as the first line to a list poem of what won’t or perhaps might kill you. Be sure to credit the poet for your inspiration.

The second prompt is to create a stanza listing what your friends, former lovers or you yourself have said to explain why you are alone or why you are not as successful in your career or writing as you wish and a second stanza debunking the self-blame. Give yourself credit. Be fulsome in your self-praise.

The third is to write a list of binary oppositions (open/close as used here or light/dark, wet/dry), focus on one set and build a poem or story around the tension between the pair.

For another prompt, write a story or poem from the following word list: “anticipated,” “vibrant,” “hand,” “touch,” “open,” “unfolds,” “obtainable,” “aim,” “choice” and “shoulder.”

Or, finally, write about what a therapist or doctor advised you to do or comforted you with in a poem, story or essay. I still want to have “With your family, it is amazing you are as normal as you are” framed and hung like a diploma.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

A Less Than Merry Christmas—Prompts Inspired by Beth Gilstrap

Today with family ill is less merry than usual, so let’s dive into Beth Gilstrap’s fantastically dark “That Christmas I Ate Moonshine Cherries and Became a Fortune Teller,” published at https://stonecirclereview.com/that-christmas/.

For the first prompt, write a poem or story about Christmas with family and the secrets and truths stuffed in pies, the meat and bones of conversations and silences, the throat and the belly of a family.

The second prompt is to write what you carry in “pockets and call them signs” or what you carry to ward off disaster and inevitability and family history.

For the third, write a poem or story using the following list of words: “bunting,” “borderline,” “bold,” “shells,” “roiling,” “bathwater,” “foothills,” “roof,“ “synthetic,” “choked,” “manufactured,” “wrong,” and “signs.”

My mother, as the youngest in her family, was the first to use the bath, the water pumped and carried from the yard, and heated on the stove in winter or by the sun in summer. She now uses a washcloth once and reuses a bath towel just once, the water hers alone. She can always buy more milk if she spills it; she isn’t made to cry over its loss. Write about what necessities or deprivations you have left behind.

Bonus prompt: write about the world on this globe-enclosed ship, on seas ever still, ever far from land.

Prompts Inspired by Nikki Giovanni

I was so saddened to learn of the passing of Nikki Giovanni, such a powerful inspiration. I love these two poems, although she wrote too many great ones to choose from for me to pick just one favorite.

For the first prompt, write about what you should do instead of writing while we lurch into fascism.

The second is to create a list poem of what times these really are or what you can make them be.

For a third prompt, write a poem or story about how mythological creatures prepare to hibernate for decades and centuries, what do they set aside for rebirth, what would you if you had their lifespan and abilities.

The next is to write a poem or story how to prepare for winter; what will you gather and store, or if you prefer, how you will prepare for spring.

For another, write a poem or story using the following list of words compiled from both poems: “clean,” “kerosene,” “times,” “burrow,” “bury,” “quilts,” “oatmeal,” “medicine” “bears,” “gather,” “collect” and “coming.”

The last prompt is to take a line from your favorite Nikki Giovanni poem and build a poem from it, placing the line (italicized or set off in quotation marks) at the poem’s center and crediting her in your title or in an after statement.

Good luck writing! Have fun!