“leftover duck”—Prompts Inspired by Tom Snarsky and John Ashbery

I am reposting this since I apparently was very tired and couldn’t read properly—two of the poems are from Tom Snarsky and two are from John Ashbery (and autocorrect changed the spelling of Ashbery’s name). Wow, that’s embarrassing! I need to write prompts during the day from now on!

Today is John Ashbery’s birthday, so let’s celebrate with two of his poems and to Tom Snarsky who is a great poet to follow. I posted all four but only want to focus on one. The other three are bonus poems for tonight.

This poem in particular resonated with me—its imagery and that final line.

The first prompt is to use the poem’s first line as a ghostline. See where it takes you. Remember to delete the line after you’ve finished your poem and credit the poet in an after statement or in the title.

The second is to Mad Lib the second couplet for a writing exercise: _______ is an extended metaphor for / ________, which is half of what _______ does. / The other half is _______ for ________. Now write a poem or short story that develops this idea. Don’t use the lines themselves or do so only as the jumping off point from which you later delete.

For a third prompt, write a poem or story using the following word list: “coats,” “layered,” “unblended,” “shade,” “cool,” “angle,” “brush,” “extended,” “half” and “light.”

Here is the other Snarksky poem and the two Ashbery poems.

For the next prompt, write a poem or story about miscommunication that uses technical terms from a scientific field. Throw in a conspiracy for fun.

For the prompt based on this poem, write a poem or story using the following word list: “logic,” “climate,” “tender,” “turns,” “mountain,” “pouring,” “monument,” “wind, “starching” and “broke.”

The next prompt is to answer this poem’s repeated question (but without the ducks).

The final prompt is print out each of these poems, cut out each word separately and arrange them as you into new lines.

Bonus prompt: write a poem or story based on this photo.

Good luck! Have fun!

For “when the plot calls”—Prompts Inspired by Lisel Mueller

Here is a powerful poem by Lisel Mueller. Notice how everyday language is transformed by its arrangement, how visual it can become with a skilled writer. Thank you, Anthony Robinson, for sharing!!!

For the first prompt, use the last lines “Inside the house / the mirrors burn when I pass” for a ghostline. See where that line takes you. Remember to erase the line after you’ve written your poem and credit the poet with an “after Lisel Mueller” statement or another acknowledgment.

The second prompt is a Mad Libs writing exercise: replace the nouns and verbs with their opposites. If you discover a line you particularly like, use that line as your very own ghostline for a poem or short story.

The third prompt is another writing exercise, creating a poem structured similar to this one. Use your title to indicate time: night or sunset or perhaps the day of the week or a season, whatever you like. Your first line(s) will introduce an action as if it part of a script or story (that happens or doesn’t happen in the aforementioned period of time). The second line(s) will refer to the time introduced in the title with perhaps additional detail (season or time of day or a month) and offers an action. The third line(s) will reinforce the theme of plot, story, fate, etc. and will either prevent the action or erase its consequence. The last line(s) will end on an evocative image. Again this is just for practice and the resulting poem may be too similar to the original for publication.

For a final prompt, write a story or poem that uses the following word list: “even,” “calls,” “stone,” “summer,” “outside,” “opens,” “inside,” “mirrors” and “pass.” Try to switch the parts of speech/word classes.

Bonus prompt: write a story or poem based on this photo.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Living Punk—Prompts Inspired by Jessica Walsh

I love this poem by Jessica Walsh. It feels like an anthem, a beckoning to let my feet thud on the floor and stomp into a new day.

I have never been punk, never pretended or believed myself “cool” or “hot” especially after motherhood changed my perspective and direction, after repeated failures pulled my eyes to ground. No, I am not tough, but I am still here, after I had stopped wanting to be a tourist to my life and decided to live it even though I do it all wrong. I can only hope my daughter will be punk in a similar way—living a long life and proving the doubters wrong.

For the first prompt, write a poem or essay in response to what a loved one has said to you or criticized you for. Like the poet here, use the criticism as part of your title. Remember, you don’t have to be polite unless you plan to show it to them.

The second prompt is to write a list poem of how you demonstrate that you are here to stay: setting money aside for a trip you won’t take until the kids are out of the house, buying a swimsuit at summer’s end for next summer, planting a tree, buying another book for the unread stack, write a to-do list.

For the third prompt, write a story or poem about the decision you (or a character) made to stay alive in spite of it all. What did you (or the protagonist) give up, give away, take or make in order to make that choice possible.

The next prompt is to take a favorite song and weave the lyrics in as the poet does here with “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads.

For the last prompt, write a poem or story using the following word list: “grudges,” “odds,” “role,” “snow,” “steady,” “surrendered,” “bottle,” “bomb,” “nails,” “gas,” “spite” and “teeth.”

Bonus prompt: write a poem or story about this image. Don’t worry, if Katy Perry can repeat “boom, boom, boom” and “moon, moon, moon” you can too.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

For “the hollow mouth at evening’s edge”—Prompts Inspired by Luther Hughes

Let me see the world as making love in the bowing of trees, beauty even in the breakage.

For the first prompt, describe a scene of destruction, and near the end, use the line “What if this were love” and answer how it could be. Be sure to italicize the line or use quotation marks around it and credit the author in your title, such as “with line from Luther Hughes or similar acknowledgement.

The second prompt is to write a love poem to a force of nature—lightning, the tide, a storm surge. What is given back?

For a third prompt, write a poem or story using the following words: “felled,” “hollow,” “humble,” “bowed,” “habit,” “gust,” “chore,” “bargained,” “distance” and “stay.”

The last prompt is to use “if wind bargained for beauty, let go of its kingdom” as a ghostline, using it as a starting point and then erasing it. Do credit the poet in the title or provide an “after Luther Hughes” acknowledgment.

Bonus prompt: write a poem or story using the following photo as its setting or for its mood.

Additional bonus prompt (less bleak one): write a poem or story about bending, but not breaking.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

“Empty Vessel”—Prompts Inspired by Taylor Franson-Thiel

Note that this poem has a content warning for religious violence / trauma.

Here is such a beautiful poem that weaves facts with the religious and the personal that I now have to find more poems by the poet and to read issues of Stone Circle Review, which published the poem. Here is the poem’s link in the journal: https://stonecirclereview.com/hymn-for-a-faith-crisis/

For the first prompt, replicate the poem’s structure by referencing a recent scientific study in the first stanza but with the stanza’s last line introducing the image/concept developed in the second stanza. The second stanza weaves that new concept with imagery of the body and/or religious themes. The third stanza builds upon those themes, making sure that imagery or language from the scientific study is included. The fourth stanza continues the imagery and themes but also includes specific definitions or scripture. End the poem with a couplet.

The second prompt is a writing exercise only as it would be too similar to the original. Use the poem’s structure and wording as is but replacing the poet’s nouns with your own. However, you could see if any of the revised lines call to you and use one of them as the first line to a poem or story. Make sure your poem has a completely different structure—both in stanzas and individuals lines—though.

The third prompt is to use “How as a child you, an empty vessel, were filled” as ghostline, the first line of a poem or story that you complete and then erase. Remember to credit the poet for your inspiration.

Another prompt is to write a poem or story using the following list of words: “clouds,” “staircase,” “arrow,” “nape,” “fingerprints,” “pearls,” “vessel,” “stripped,” “vacant,” “interpret,” “temple” and “breath.”

The last prompt is to use the image “You grow a granite staircase up your spine” as either a ghostline or as the title of your poem, making sure the poet is credited.

And perhaps because of my own upbringing and background, I see an angel in the clouds and also a pissed off Victorian lady. For a bonus prompt, write epistle (a letter in verse) to her.

Bonus bonus prompt: for a play on the word “vessel” write a poem or story about a boat or ship.

Good luck! Have fun!

Wonder—Prompts Inspired by Lucille Clifton

As always, Lucille Clifton amazes—so much beauty in the imagery and depth in the language.

For the first prompt, describe the muse/god/goddess that sends inspiration to poets and writers generally or to you specifically. Is this being a kind one? If not, why?

The second prompt is to write the invocation to summon inspiration or the poem/story as a whole. Or if you prefer, write it as a recipe or a mathematical equation. What does the poem/story make or solve for you?

As cited in the discussion about the poem, Lucille Clifton stated: “I don’t write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions” https://poets.org/poem/poets-their-bassinets. How that statement conflict or build upon the common adage to “write what you know”? Btw, I recommending checking out the other interesting statements made by the poet’s daughter. Write an essay, poem or story on what you wonder.

For the final prompt, write a poem or story using the following words (or their variations): “dream,” “baby,” “globe,” “smiles,” “report,” “innocence, “believing,” “whimper,” “use” and “terrifying.”

And now to celebrate wonder, here is a bonus prompt: write about these imagined creatures—or similarly unnamed ones—such as the hornless whisperer for the existing horned screamer or the angelic morninglid for the satanic nightjar (yes, this is an actual bird). And check out the artist’s Patreon for more comics: https://www.patreon.com/birdandmoon.

And a bonus, bonus prompt: write an essay, story or poem (perhaps an ode) celebrating Thomas the goose.

Here is more information about the life and love life of Thomas: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43054363.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

“We Used Our Words”—Prompts Inspired by Franny Choi

It is the last day of April’s 30/30 challenge. I hope it has been a successful challenge for you, whether you wrote all thirty or one. I have two more poems yet to write, but this year is the first in several in which I have even come close to thirty. Perhaps it’s that I have written so little until now that the words were ready to be pulled from their roots.

I thought Franny Choi’s “We Used Our Words We Used What Words We Had” is a great poem to celebrate the struggle to write daily (or the struggle for me anyway). Here is the link to this poem: https://poets.org/poem/we-used-our-words-we-used-what-words-we-had. If you would like more poems by her or to purchase her books, check out her website: https://www.frannychoi.com/.

For the first prompt, write about the words you most often use—your favorites, like the hammer that best fits your hand. Weave these words you often build your poems into a poem, story or essay, noting their origin, sound and weight.

The second prompt is to read the poem aloud and write down the words that most resonate with you. Create a poem or story from those words.

For the third, write a poem about what you have built in your poems, what do you seek to make permanent even as the “tide still tide.”

Note that the version of the poem posted above is different than that posted on poets.org. What changes with the shorter lines, extra spacing, the breaking of the block into couplets. Take one of your poems written today and rearrange into couplets. What changes in its feel, in the atmosphere?

Bonus prompt: write a poem that celebrates your hard work.

Good luck writing! You’re almost there! Have fun!

Love the Living—Prompts Inspired by Joseph Fasano

As you may know, I despise AI—its theft from actual artists and writers, its environmental impact, the pretense that a chatbot can attain sentience or overcome bias if given enough stolen data and most of all, the inhumanity and dishonesty of those promoting it to devalue actual human labor and experience. While there are some applications for it, such as medical researchers using large language models to study partial genome sequences, most is just the newest NFT scam bubble.

Living is to create and learn—whether painting, drawing, writing, analyzing or problem solving—through the process and struggle. And to sometimes fail, and by failing often learning more than by success. To outsource thinking and making choices—necessary for every creative endeavor—is to hire someone else to drink the wine and participate in the evening’s conversation or to hold the hand of a loved one dying in a hospital.

I so appreciate Joseph Fasano for his generous sharing of others’ poems and for his own poems, especially this one. Here is a link to the poem: https://poets.org/poem/student-who-used-ai-write-paper

For the first prompt, describe a list of tasks that demonstrate love of another human or for an animal or for life itself in a story, poem or essay. Perhaps that is caring for a loved one or pet, planting flowers for bees, picking up trash from a creek or beach or climbing a hill to see the best view of sunset.

The second prompt is write a love (but not necessarily romantic love) poem or story using the following list of words: “let,” “fall,” “grasses,” “life,” “precious,” “earth,” “free,” “living,” “miraculous” and “work.”

The last prompt is to write what your “miraculous task” is whatever genre you choose.

Bonus prompt: write an ekphrastic poem or story from this painting, or write about tools from an animal’s perspective.

Bonus, bonus prompt: Write about who you would choose to sit on this porch swing with and what the moment would be like. Describe the wind, the scents in the air, the water of the Gulf, sound of birds, whatever would evoke bliss for you.

Good luck writing! Remember we’ve almost made it through the challenge! Good luck!

Language without Violence—Prompts Inspired by Nickole Brown

So awed by Nickole Brown’s poem I have to share it today. If you want to listen to the poet read her poem, here is the link: https://poets.org/poem/parable.

For the first prompt, do listen to the poet read and write down the particular words that catch you. From your the word list you created, write a poem or story.

The second prompt is another word list, this time writing a story or poem using as many of the words the poet italicized you can: “broken,” “cicada,” “giddy-up,” “whoa,” “good,” “girl,” “shushing,” “that,” “come,” “here,” “now,” “mane,” “wind,” “wings,” “ours,” “let,” “live,” “Please” and “us.”

A third prompt is to use a common saying and explore what its usage indicates about society, perhaps its violence or focus on the body as its metaphor for hierarchies (“head,” “bottom,”) or its ableist origins (“blind,” lame,”). Or explore society’s agricultural roots (pun intended) through its idioms.

For the next prompt, try to imagine how another creature would understand natural phenomena, such as day and night, winter and summer, and the emotional and physical states of hunger, loss, safety and joy in a story or poem.

Another prompt is to write a poem or story using “Touch her there, gently now, touch that” as your first line; as with all ghostlines, erase that line and give credit to the poet.

The last prompt is to write a list poem of how animals tell us “Let us live.”

Bonus prompt: create a new language for the movements sculpted here.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

The Tender of Others—Prompts Inspired by Carla Sofia Ferreira

This is such a tender, loving poem from a wonderful poem shared by another great poet. Particularly now I feel the needs for such poems to read and to share.

For the first prompt, share an experience of kind words given to by a child or student. Be as gentle as you need.

The second prompt is to start a poem or story with the line “Today, ____ tell me that I look like ____,” filling in the blank spaces with your own nouns.

The third prompt is write a poem or story from this word list from the poem: “existed,” “simple,” “tender,” “care,” “heal,” “kindness,” “waffles,” “compliments,” “shared” and “garden.”

For the final prompt, describe how you would like to take care of others, whether living creatures or objects, in poem or story. Perhaps, you would like to fix the loosened spines of books, quilt baby blankets to donate, clear off nature trails and paths, socialize animals so that they can be adopted, cook stews and nourishing soups for others to warm up with, all of the million ways we can give ourselves.

Bonus prompt: write an ekphrastic poem or story based on this photo of from Washington Park in Portland.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Relative Meaning—Prompts Inspired by Amorak Huey

Growing up in a rural Midwestern town, I found this poem so powerful, but of course I am already biased since I so like his writing and his book Dad Jokes from Late in the Patriarchy. I also wanted to discuss a longer poem since I often feature shorter ones.

For the first prompt, take religion, philosophy, sin, goodness or other abstract concept and explain what it means to you, using a specific experience and providing sensory description in a poem, short story or essay.

The second prompt is to describe what “the path through heartbreak” is to you.

For a third prompt, use the lines “a prayer / to be loved that only the devout can hear” as a ghostline. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

The next prompt is to write a list poem of inane statements, such as the white cow eating green grass and making white milk, to attribute to the hand of God. Perhaps, one could be that corn is holy in that it sometimes remains whole after traveling through the digestive tract.

Write about experience in which “[p]urer, simpler faith never existed.” This could be a moment of deep piety or one in which you earnestly prayed to whoever is listening or to fate itself.

For another prompt, write a poem or story using the following word list: “break,” “wager,” “plume,” “bruised,” “steeple,” “translations,” “gaudy,” “tawny,” “martyr,” “sweat,” “throat” and “devout.”

Bonus prompt: what does that the word psalm originates from the Greek verb psallein, “to pull or pluck” and the noun psalmos “the twanging of a harp.” Write a hymn or sacred poem of your own.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Earth Day—Prompt and Poem from Jared Beloff

I love this poem and the prompt. Jared Beloff is a wonderful poet to read and to listen to at readings. I still haven’t gotten his book Who Will Cradle Your Head, although it is on my to-buy list. You can buy it and read individual poems on his website (listed below).

Btw, I have really enjoyed all the poems and prompts posted by Moist Poetry Journal.

For a second prompt, write a poem or story starting from the line “our hands swooping” (or rather the image). As with all ghostlines, erase the line and credit the poet for your inspiration.

A third prompt is to write a love poem or story using the following words “kept,” “pockets,” “sprinkle,” “bare,” “curve,” “rustle,” “skin” and “song.”

Bonus prompt: write about a moment under skies filled with birds and their cries. Connect their flight, the sounds of flapping and calls to your own emotional state.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Fun-guy Prompts

While this is a prompt meant for Bluesky, I think it works for others too (especially the description used). I am a huge fan of mushrooms, lichen and fungus, so I am using today’s prompts as an excuse to post photos of these fascinating organisms.

For an additional prompt, use the following words from description and the alt text: “sprout,” “spores,” “bracket,” “rings,” “skinned,” “caramel,” “hint,” “crumple,” “dampshine” and “tones.”

A third prompt is to research lichen or fungus and see what sprouts (pun intended of course) an idea. Perhaps this article will prompt a poem or story: https://www.discovery.com/nature/the-largest-living-thing-on-earth-is-a-3-5-square-mile-fungus.

Write an ekphrastic poem or story about these cuties.

Or this frilly girl.

Or write about the one below as if it were an alien being. What does it want or do? How does it communicate?

Is there cooperation or competition here?

And, finally, write a poem or story using the photo and the given title (crediting both to William Aegerter).

Good luck! Have fun with fungus!

“Graveyard of suns”—Prompts Inspired by Lara Coley

We are at the midpoint of 30/30! I hope you are enjoying the process of writing, if not daily, then more often than usual. Or if you are someone who already writes daily: wonderful!

Such beautiful lines in this poem by Lara Coley, I hope they will inspire your next poem or story. Here is the link if you are interested in her book: https://buttonpoetry.com/product/ex-traction/.

For the first prompt, use the first line “You are disappearing into the shadows of the past” for a ghostline. Remember to erase this line and give credit to the poet for the inspiration.

The second prompt is to imagine all of your body as territory staked to a current partner, former lovers, a child, a pet or even the sun or a plant. Perhaps your lap is designated to a cat, your left hand to pet a dog, your cheeks to redden in the sun. How do the different owners navigate your borders?

For the third prompt, write a poem or story using the following list: “shadows,” “darkness,” “mangled,” “ghosts,” “flesh,” “stake,” “luminous,” “whispering,” “graveyard” and “shine.”

The last prompt is to create a list poem of graveyards. Who or what is buried there? What characterizes each? Which will you go to when it is time?

Good luck writing! Have fun!

“God is red”—Prompts Inspired by Arminé Iknadossian

As is obvious from previous posts, I love poems that use color as the throughline, and this poem is gorgeous, as are all of hers that I’ve read. I know I will turn over and over to the imagery and power in Arminé Iknadossian‘s All That Wasted Fruit. 

For the first prompt, begin a poem or story by personifying a color as the first line here does: “Red is so needy; so eager / to spill onto the floor.”

The second prompt is to use the line “You taught me that God is,” replacing “red” with your own adjective or noun. After you have finished the poem or story, remember to erase the line and credit the poet for your inspiration, perhaps in the title or in an after statement under the title.

The last prompt is to write a story or poem using the following list of words: “needy,” “cracks,” “palms,” “bridge,” “blush,” “field,” “reminders,” “bare,” “blood” and “slap.”

Bonus prompt: imagine that each golden pollen is a sentient being, longing to be carried away or even to be consumed, and write a love poem from the pollen to a bee. Or use this variant: write the poem as a prayer from the pollen to its god to be blessed with the bee.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

“little knives”—Prompts Inspired by and by Rachel McKibbens

I was excited to learn that Rachel McKibbens is writing daily prompts for this April. I loved the previous prompts she has posted on her blog, http://rachelmckibbens.blogspot.com/. In fact her prompt 104# on the site is a great one if you are stuck.

I wanted to share this poem, which I love. Here is the link if you wish to listen to her read it: https://poets.org/poem/remember-boys. Her books—blud, Into the Dark & Emptying Field and Pink Elephant—are ones that I turn to again and again.

For the first prompt, write a poem or story about the group you wanted to join and why.

The second prompt is a to use the lines “How different would I be, / how much bigger, if I had been _____ as the start of your poem or story. As with all ghostlines, remember to erase the lines and credit the poet for your inspiration.

A third prompt is to use the following words from the “Remember the Boys” to write your own poem or story: “nest,” “hum,” “sting,” “knives,’ “crawl,” “storm,” “gospel,” “flinch,” “room” and “terror.”

Below is a prompt on Instagram from the poet. Be sure to follow her for more prompts.

Bonus prompt: write an ekphrastic poem or story from the photo below.

Good luck writing this month! Have fun!

Know This—Prompts Inspired by Kelly Grace Thomas Vojdani

I love poems that originate from an obscure (to me) fact, and this wonderful poem is no exception (I admit that I am biased though—I think her poetry collection Boat Burned and the individual poems I’ve read are all fantastic).

For the first prompt, take a random/obscure fact—perhaps that it is illegal to get an elephant drunk in the city of Natchez, MS—and build a poem or story from that.

The second prompt is to use a factual statement as a title of a poem or story (“There Are No Stop Signs in Paris”) and the first line/sentence as a result (“So cars and silk-scarved women savor time like it’s theirs”) with all subsequent lines expanding upon the results with concrete details (even if there isn’t a direct correlation).

For a third prompt, use “I remembered what it meant to / call hunger mine” for your first line and go from there. Remember to erase the line and credit the poet for your inspiration. Or if you prefer, use the line for your title, still crediting the poet.

The next prompt is to write a poem or short story using the following words from the poem: “silk,” “savor,” “coast,” “lipstick,” “suitcase,” “hunger, “cost,” “flute,” “drag” and “glittering.”

Instead of the absence of signs, let’s move to descriptive (or ominous) signs.

Bonus prompt: write an ekphrastic poem or story based on one (or both) of these photos of bathroom signs.

Good luck writing! Have fun with facts today (or with signs)!

Poets & Writers Poetry Prompt Inspired by Jessica Abughattas

How is the first week of poems coming? Oof, a little rough for me, which does not bode well for the rest of the month. Here is a prompt from Poets & Writers, which posts weekly fiction and creative non-fiction prompts, in addition to poetry prompts, throughout the year). Here is the link for the latest poetry prompt: https://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises.

While this prompt is similar to a previous one I posted (that one inspired by Beth Marquez who also structured the poem using a repeated “because”), its focus is on what is not said than the anaphora itself.

Here is “Litany for My Father“ by Jessica Abughattas. Check out other great poets and poems at Split This Rock, https://www.splitthisrock.org/poetry-database.

For a second prompt, use one of the lines, perhaps “Because home is too far for the scent of,” for the first line of your poem and go from there. Remember to erase the line and credit the poet for your inspiration with an “after Jessica Abughattas,” or you can use “Ghostline from Jessica Abughattas” in your title if you prefer.

A third prompt is to write a story or poem from the following list: “search,” splayed,” “plastic,” “drive,” “quartz,” “scent,” “beads,” “carving” oven,” “penance” and “upturned.”

Bonus prompt: write a poem describing this old fort or a story in which this is the setting.

Good luck writing this month! Have fun!

30/30 IS HERE!!!

It is the 30/30 challenge again! April is National Poetry Month, and the challenge is to write a poem every day for this month. NaPoWriMo.net posts prompts as well as participants’ poems. Check out this month’s prompts and poems as well as those from previous years. You can also submit your own website there to have your poems shared.

I will try to post websites and links to social media accounts that are posting daily prompts along with my own. I will try to post more prompts than usual but won’t put out a new prompt every day. Here is yesterday’s prompt from NapoWriMo.net:

The last couple of years I haven’t finished the challenge, although I have done so previously. I just have to remember that the goal is to write 30 poems, not 30 GOOD poems!

Here is your bonus prompt: write a poem about a moment when you felt yourself break through a period of indecision or blockage.

Good luck writing every day! Have fun!

Definitions—Prompts Inspired by Dorianne Laux

I am grateful to Tresha Faye Haefner (and Ella Braden) for sharing this gorgeous poem by Dorianne Laux.

For the first prompt, take a concrete object (as Laux did with wound) and write your own definition for it. Expand upon that definition as if giving multiple uses (as with “wound” as a “flower” and then a “fire” but circle back to connect the two.

The second prompt is a writing exercise: take this poem and change all the nouns (and the verbs in order to make sense). Now take the third sentence you’ve made to use or another one of your choosing (preferably a sentence in which you’ve changed the verbs) as the first line of a new poem. Do change the first line’s and the entire poem’s structure—break that sentence into separate sentences, the poem into couplets or other form. Be sure to credit the poet for your inspiration.

For the third prompt, take the poet’s “what becomes of us once we’ve been torn apart and returned to our future” for a question to answer in a poem or short story.

Write a poem or story using the following list of words from the poem: “descent,” “scent,” “war,” “torches,” “tinder,” “flame,” “hands,” “torn,” “naked” and “scar.” Try to switch the nouns to verbs and vice versa. As an added constraint, let the poem be a love poem or the story a romance.

The last prompt is to use the line “Say goodbye to disaster” as a title for a poem or story.

Good luck writing! Have fun!