Mercy in Its Myriad Forms—Prompts Inspired by J. Sullivan

I am always fascinated by how differently people perceive kindness and how vast the distance is between intent and reaction in social interactions. J. Sullivan’s poem “Mercy” embodies these discrepancies in a clear narrative.

For the first prompt, write about a scene or a past event in which two people commit contrasting acts of mercy or kindness.

For the second, use the line “And I was about to leave you” as a ghostline, erasing the line and crediting the poet after you have drafted the poem.

The third prompt is to write about a time you attempted to save a creature and failed. Did the animal or insect understand you were trying to help? Did it cling to you or attempt to flee?

For the last prompt, write a poem or story using the following list of words: “garden,” “summer,” “praying,” “bright,” “fizzled,” “fingertips,” “save,” “pain,” “softly,” “surprised” and “mercy.”

This photo is of a luna moth I tried to rescue from a river. I am unsure if it had already drowned by the time I saw it floating on the water or if my movements and subsequent splashes are what ultimately killed it. Write whatever this photo or story inspires.

Good luck writing.

The “impulse to inhibit grace”—Prompts Inspired by Megan McDermott

Happy Sunday—or what is left of it. I hope your weekend was good and you are ready for the work week. I am not and should be in bed, but there is poetry to push me onward.

Megan McDermott’s “Not Me” beautifully questions the borders and definitions of identity. I hope you find it as compelling as I did.

For the first prompt, try to delineate the borders of yourself and those around you. How much of your father is smiling behind your mouth; was your sense of humor built upon his and the movies and TV shows you watched together? How much of your mannerisms are copies of your mother’s? How many of your favorite in-jokes with your partner or an ex came from someone they never met, that they assumed were yours and now shared between only the two of you. How much of your writing is a reflection or a rejection of the writers who came before you began making your own poems, stories and worlds?n

The second prompt is to imagine yourself as a stained glass window in a cathedral. Describe the scene depicted, if any. What or who is the light shining through you?

For the third, write a poem, story or essay that attempts to answer one of the three questions McDermott asks in the poem.

The next prompt is to fill in the last word of the line “Maybe every identify needs to stay a” with your own noun instead of the poem’s “paradox” and use it for a ghostline.

The last prompt is to write a poem or story using the following word list: “asserts,” “humility,” “cracks,” “impulse,” “grace,” “needs,” “blinkering,” “bulbs,” “unfastened“ and “hands.”

Bonus prompt: write about the differing sources of light and interplay of colors onto this castle’s shapes and textures as a metaphor for the soul/intellect and the body.

Good luck writing!

Scaffolds, Bridges and Walls, Oh My!—Prompts Inspired by Currents Events, Snark and Seamus Heaney

I will probably be late on posts for this month until I can focus better. I wish I had gotten this one out earlier: I appreciate the snark from the Irish Literary Times.

For the first prompt, write your own response to the removal of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center. Perhaps throw in some references to the racist boondoggle of Trump’s border wall, his Big Dig bunker ballroom and “Ozymandias.” All the people who have died or will die from funding cuts or in concentration camps and his attempt to erase history and science will remain his true legacy.

The second prompt is to write a poem, story or essay about bridges: building, them, selling them, burning them.

The third prompt is to write about a loving relationship—romantic or platonic—that has deepened with time. (Yes, I am keeping my em dashes. I will not let AI cheaters take anything.)

For the next prompt, use the line “And yet all this comes down when the job’s done” as a ghostline, erasing the line after you’ve finished your draft and crediting the poet in an after statement, in the title or with a footnote.

The last prompt is to write a poem or story using the following list of words: “careful,” “test,” “planks,” “secure,” “ladders,” “solid,” “bridges,” “scaffolds,” “confident” and “wall.”

Bonus prompt: write whatever this photo inspires.

Good luck!

“To live without curiosity”—Prompts Inspired by Matthew Olzmann

I loved this poem when I read it online but had recently used a poem by Matthew Olzmann as inspiration for prompts. The news this month about a tourist throwing a rock at an endangered monk seal though made it feel necessary.

Fuck that guy, I hope he has to pay the full fines of $50,000 and $20,000 for violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. An update to the initial story is here: https://apnews.com/article/monk-seal-harassment-endangered-maui-tourist-6c3c3e0d372b26b824582c624352bdfc.

For the first prompt, use the first line, “Tell me what it’s like to live without” as your first line, substituting “curiosity” with your own emotion and developing the poem through a series of phrases. Italicize or place the line in quotation marks and credit the poet in an after statement, footnote, endnote or your title.

The second prompt is to write a list poem of what inspires your own curiosity and awe, or write about a particular phenomenon or event in a poem or essay.

The third prompt is to take one of the poem’s descriptions, “To stand / on the precipice of some wild valley, / the eagles circling, a herd of caribou / booming below” for an opening scene in a story.

For the next prompt, create a poem or story from the following wordlist: “rolling,” “flicker,” “mist,” “precipice,” “circling,” “herd,” “booming,” “primordial,“ “smell” and “knife.”

The last prompt is to write a rant or a curse for the cruelty, pettiness and deliberate ignorance in a poem, essay or story.

Bonus prompt: write about a child’s wonder.

Good luck writing!

“buttons on a shroud”—Prompts Inspired by R. T. Smith

It’s another Sunday in which I am racing to catch up and need another three days. I hope you are making the time to write and edit; I am not but perhaps will in a few weeks (I hope).

If you are on the Bluesky social media platform, I recommend following Simeon Berry for his own poetry and for the poems he shares by other poets. I really enjoy “Mushrooms” by R. T. Smith with its distinctive voice and descriptions. So many wonderful poets to discover!

For the first prompt, write about a regional food and its traditions. Think Midwestern funeral potatoes and hotdishes or Southern grits and collard greens. What foods are not eaten and why?

The second prompt is to write a poem or story using dialogue to contrast the experiences of differing social classes or cultures.

The third prompt is to write a poem, story or essay about cooking for someone, the joy of making someone’s favorite comfort food and seeing their pleasure.

The next prompt is, conversely, to write about refusing a food someone has prepared or offered to prepare, exploring the reason for the refusal and/or the awkwardness of the moment.

The last prompt is to write a poem or story using the following list of words: “chardonnay,” “nocturnal,” “coffins,” “crows,” “velvet,” “thrives,” “body,” “ditches,” “medicine,” “lather” and “shroud.”

Bonus prompt: write about what sprouts from death or whatever this photo of a mushroom inspires.

Good luck writing!

Still Here—Prompts Inspired by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

A bit of a delay starting back to regular posting, but I started a new position. For the next two months I may be a little erratic with the schedule but will try to post once a week.

I don’t always post on Mother’s Day since not everyone has a supportive mom. Today though I can feel how little time I have left with my own after our phone conversation, and this poem reminds me so much of her, how she apologizes for no reason and how hard she is on herself.

I hope you have people in your life who provide you love, encouragement and understanding.

For the first prompt, incorporate a casual conversation within the poem or story. Try to repeat some of the statements for deeper meaning.

The second prompt is to write about a trip with a loved one. Let the focus be on your relationship and interaction rather than the trip itself.

The third prompt is to use line breaks to play with readers’ understanding as the poet does with “I’m happy but Mom / can’t believe that / she forgot to bring the conditioner.” The stanza break increases that shift in meaning.

For the last prompt, write a poem or short story using the following word list from the poem: “apologizes,” “rush,” “late,” “knocks,” “shouts,” “time,” “morning,” “easy,” “leans” and “still.”

Bonus prompt: write a story or poem about you and a loved one having all the time you need together.

Good luck writing!