Sealey Challenge is almost finished, and I won’t pretend I came close to finishing it or even reading more poetry than I usually do. Some weeks (months) are like that. I hope you were able to make more time to enjoy poetry; if not, there is always tomorrow to pick up a great collection or follow some poets online and read theirs and those they share.

I did finish a small chapbook Laughing in the Face of Death by Californian poet Kevin Ridgeway, who has always been fun to see in person and to talk with.

For the first prompt, write about the difficulty of comforting someone through a loss. This can be in an essay, poem or story, whatever medium (or hybrid) works best.

For the second, begin a story or as poem with someone thanking you (or the narrator)

The third prompt is to write a poem or story that switches from one emotion to a contrasting one. Experiment with the amount of space you allow for the transition.

For the last prompt, write a poem or story using the following list of words: “failure,” “lost,” “tied,” “rawness,” “tissue,” “chased,” “underneath,” “ground,” “shook” and “needed” but excluding the words “tears,” “die,” “died,” “dead” or “death.”

Bonus prompt: This photo doesn’t do the sky justice, not with how lightning flashed in the rosy clouds while the dark ribbons hung next to the moon, but write whatever it inspires.

Good luck writing! I hope this month has led to discovering new poets to enjoy!