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.