What Is a Sonnet or a Poem?—Prompts Inspired by Diane Seuss and Gatekeeping Trolls

Sorry for the delay but a busy week and a head full of fluff. So this post is in response to Twitter drama in which a poet who has elected herself gatekeeper for what is a sonnet or a poem directly attacked Diane Seuss for attention. I doubt I could respond as gracefully and as kindly as Diane Seuss did. Btw, her critic is also the same poet who proclaims erasures and centos are not poems, so while this poet is someone to ignore, asking what makes a poem a poem or a sonnet a sonnet is a good exercise for poets.

While the individual answers differ among poets and readers, most people know what a poem is even if they do not have specific criteria—perhaps it is density of language, rhythm (even if rhyme and meter aren’t needed for most people now) or simply a sense of awe or wonder from reading it. For me, adherence to a form or to accepted conventions is less important than the sense of wonder or surprise created in the reading or hearing of it. There are some poems that are fit all the requirements but are forgettable and others that push the boundaries in such a way that I don’t care if it is technically prose or poetry, I am lost in the world it created. What are your requirements or characteristics a piece of writing must have before you consider it a poem? Do you use the requirements/ingredients when you edit?

Some people have stricter requirements for a sonnet—must be fourteen lines in iambic pentameter in the Shakespearean or Italian/Petrarchan form. Contemporary poets such as Seuss and Terrence Hayes have moved the sonnet into new directs. Other poets, such as Donna Hilbert, have poems that feel like sonnets to me even though they do not consider them as such.

Note that the poem above has fourteen lines but certainly doesn’t follow the classical form. For many modern writers, the key requirement is the volta, or turn, in the poem. For me, there is such a turn in the poem where the narrator says, “what’s to be sad about” and then explains the reasons for sadness. I think on a quick, careless read, this poem could seem stream of consciousness without much craft (as described by another sour-ass gatekeeper), but the language is deliberate, with a thread running throughout and repetition carefully used. I have to admit I am biased though: reading Diane Seuss and getting to hear her read aloud brings me joy. I heartily recommend Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl and frank: sonnets and plan to read her earlier collections.

For the first prompt, decide is required for a sonnet and write your own. Decide if you want to go full Petrarchan or modernize the form for yourself.

The second prompt is to write a poem to illustrating what “done for good” means to you.

The third prompt is to write about a “sad day / though not a tragic day.” Let the poem or story build from minor or not-so-minor inconveniences to what underlies most sorrow for you (or humanity in general) but overall keeping the specifics in.

The last prompt is to write a story or poem (a lament?) from the perspective of the taxidermied bear.

Bonus prompt: write about the real Elvis joining this group or what makes Elvis real as an archetype.

And just because I like this photo and the memory of that day with Don and my parents, here is a picture of a canal.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Duly Noted—Prompts Inspired by Kristina Mahr

Because I often get stuck in my head, in the same cycle, subject matter, style or just the same poem in slight variations, I need a new form or process. I particularly love poems that incorporate the language or framework of another field or medium. Footnote poems particularly interest me, although my own attempts are messy and incomplete. Let’s turn to Kristina Mahr’s “Footnotes” for some direction.

Let’s follow Mahr’s process for the first prompt. Write a simple (seemingly uncontroversial) statement and then explain and justify your statement (and the previous footnote) as footnotes. See where this process takes you. You will need to credit the poet.

The second prompt is to take a statement about your life or a value judgment about yourself (e.g. I was a good mother) and argue for or against that statement in the footnotes. What is “good” in this context? My daughter and I discussed how different our criteria are for what makes someone a “good” driver: safety of course but safety through caution or through quick reflexes and handling of the car?

For the last prompt, write a love poem or breakup poem and use footnotes to attempt to define every abstract emotion with a concrete image.

Bonus prompt: write a short story or poem in which this house is the setting of a fairytale or myth.

Have fun! Good luck!

World of Poetry Reading Tomorrow!

I keep sneaking in with real poets. Seriously, all of these poets have books published in multiple languages and are scholars and Ambassadors of Peace, whereas I am researching Skyrim mod load lists even though I no longer have a console to play the game on (my kid has it). So come listen to all of these wonderful poets and see if a bouncer tosses me out.

As usual, I forgot to post the video to the Year Ending Poetry Fiesta reading on Uddan TV. Here is the YouTube link.

Hope to see you tomorrow! I will try to remember to post a link to the reading later in the week. Have a great night!

To the End of Triumph—Prompts Inspired by Jack Gilbert

Jack Gilbert’s poem was shared in a thread of poems with unforgettable lines, as it should be, although it is impossible for me to pick just one line to share.

For the first prompt, do better than I and pick one line that resonates the most with you for a ghostline. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

The second prompt is to write a poem or story about the moment before the hero’s fall, the ship’s sinking, the last kiss given without any regret or hesitation. You can choose familiar tale or event to describe or create a new one of your own, letting the sweetness last to the very end line or perhaps foreshadowed in the title or opening.

The next prompt is to write a list of failures, small ones that build up to the final breaking but end on a moment of joy.

For the next prompt, write a love poem using the following words: “summer,” “island,” “burning,” “bed,” “nights,” “gentleness,” “mist,” “swimming,” “light” and “coming.”

Bonus prompt: write to the moon in this cold sky and include the sound of waves breaking on the rocks.

Good luck! Have fun!

In the Meantime—Prompts Inspired by Li-Young Lee

All the world loves a love poem and such poems are needed, but, oh, they can be so difficult to write. Let’s turn to Li-Young Lee’s wonderful “To Hold” for inspiration. Thank you, James Crews, for sharing!

For the first prompt, make a list of six tasks you share (or shared) with a lover. Choose the one that resonates most with you and write a set of instructions for that task. Try to include precise details, including movements and sensory description. From that description build a poem or short story.

The second prompt is to write a poem making connections between “mean” (the mathematical definition, a measurement or midpoint; intend; define or demonstrate; humble; or other definitions) and signifiers of time through words in the poem such as “meantime, “one day,” “until,” “then,” “moment” or others and through shifting between verb tenses. See what happens.

The next prompt is a writing exercise. Replace all the nouns and verbs with your own. Now take your fourth and fifth lines from the bottom as your first lines and go from there.

For the last prompt, use the first line, “So we’re dust. In the meantime, my wife [husband, lover, partner, etc]” as a ghostline. Complete the sentence and go from there. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

Good luck! Have fun!

Moonlit Journeys—Prompts Inspired by Kareem Tayyar

Since I didn’t go for that walk today, let’s be inspired by the lovely imagery of Kareem Tayyar’s poem “Midnight Rambler.” I especially love the lines: “Everywhere the waters whispered themselves / back into the dream of a single river.” Even the sound of the lines is a soft rushing.

If you’d like to read more from Kareem Tayyar, check out his substack.

For the first prompt, write a poem or short story about your own nighttime journey, moving from the tangible to the surreal.

I of course cannot resist using line “the poems the ghosts had written” for a ghostline prompt. Make sure to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

The next prompt is to write a poem using the following words from “Midnight Rambler”: “bloom,” “companion,” “waters,” “single,” “silhouettes,” “bodies,” “pillow,” “illuminated,” “walls” and “arrival.”

For the last prompt, write an apology to a former self you’ve tried to leave.

Bonus prompt: create your own myth or superstition about a ring around the moon.

Good luck! Have fun!

The More of It All—New Year’s Resolution Prompts Inspired by Lia Purpura

Lia Purpura’s “Resolution” hits hard for me. Too often I have held back, thought I should not put myself forward, let fear prevent me from trying something new, denied myself a pleasure to balance a regret only to make more of both. I love how she hears “more” in “morning” and makes music from regrets and reprimands.

I enjoyed her reflection on the poem: “The way whole words and sounds nest in other words and sounds kept the surprises coming. By just recognizing kinned sounds, the poem spoke itself into being in a way that felt independent of my making.” Click here to access the Academy of American Poets website, where you can listen to her read the poem (and also where the quote is published).

The coming year will be a rough one—already our little boats are bobbing wildly on a rising sea of war, genocide, fascism, natural disasters and uncertainty. We know all that we should do but won’t and all that we shouldn’t do but will, so let’s do what we must to moor ourselves to the day.

Let’s have that piece of cake before dinner, before our vegetables even. Yes, we will eat them too, but we can start out with the cake to make sure there’s room. Let’s binge on a comic book or romance or poetry chapbook—whatever will provide a happy escape from bills and the news. We will be good as we can and enjoy the day while we can. Let’s have more.

For the first prompt, use the poem’s first line, “There’s the thing I shouldn’t do” as a ghostline. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

The second prompt is to write a poem interchanging the words present as in gift with present and present as in now.

The next prompt is to come up with your own nested words to build a poem or a story around. Think of how end is held within friend, that the spelling of a part and apart is the opposite of their meaning, how contradictory sanguine is—both optimistic and bloodthirsty—that words and phrases can have opposite meanings (see this list of contronyms for more examples), or a small word like go can contain so many meanings.

For the last prompt, make a list of necessary tasks and a second list of rewards to give yourself. Burn the first list and write a list poem or short story with the second. Enjoy the smoke.

Bonus prompt: write about this reward (it was delicious) or your favorite dessert.

Write what you want. Have fun!

Year Ending Poetry Fiesta!

I am so excited to participate in The World of Poetry’s Fiesta tomorrow! It will be at 8am Central. Please join me if you can!

It will be recorded as usual. And—as usual—I forgot to post the recording. Here is the YouTube link to the last one I attended in November.

Have a great night! Hope to see you!

A Bright New Day Every Day—Prompts Inspired by Linda Pastan

So I got distracted with the holidays and spending time with family—all good, but again I am behind on posting. Ah, good intentions and road pavement…

But tonight I saw this Linda Pastan poem and Sean Dineen’ response and loved both. Instead of living each day as if it were the last—and likely my desperate attempts to apologize and correct mistakes—I would prefer to experience each day as a first filled “raw astonishment” and no regrets.

For the first prompt, try to create a poem that mirrors that “raw astonishment” in the poem. Start by making a list of historical firsts and weaving one or more of them into your own daily routine, treating each task as if it were the first.

The second prompt is to write a short story or piece of flash fiction in which you describe the first day of sentience for a character or creature.

The third prompt uses the first line, “You tell me to live each day,” as a jumping off point. Avoid using either the standard “as if it were your last” or the poem’s later recommended “as if it were the first” as the impetus. Instead, write about what someone told you or what you wish they had. Because the former is such a common phrase and your goal is to take a different direction than that of the poem, you likely will not need to credit the poet as you would for a regular ghostline.

The last prompt is to write a poem using the following words from the poem: “day,” “race,” “minutes,” “first,” “raw,” “ingénue,” “morning,” “roar,” “clear” and “surface.” If possible, try to write a hopeful poem (this is definitely a challenge for me).

Bonus prompts: write an ekphrastic poem using this photo, or write a surreal poem or short story about this flower hatching as an egg and describing what emerges.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Mermaids and Monsters—Prompts Inspired by Sirianna Helleloid

I love the visceral imagery and rhythm of Sirianna Helleloid’s “Ariel Ignores the Great Master’s Bidding.” This poem has such great wordplay and use of slant rhyme and alliteration that it begs repeated readings.

The first prompt is to choose a mythical creature, fairytale character or a Disney princess and retell the story for modern times, giving your speaker an unlikely profession. Describe a banshee who works as an actuary, the Big Bad Wolf as a venture capitalist or perhaps Sleepy Beauty as a barista. Sometimes making a list of five fairytale characters and a separate list of five professions can be helpful in getting started if you are stuck.

For a second prompt, use the poem’s first line “I crawl my way out of the ocean, grinning. New feet” as a ghostline. Or, begin with the last line “It’s a long swim to the horizon” to jumpstart a story or poem. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

The third prompt is to write a poem or story from the sisters’ point of view as a response poem. How do they feel about her leaving them for land? How does the story end for them? Don’t forget to reference the original poem and author in your title or as in “after” statement. Do be careful to make this your own telling.

For another prompt, write a poem or story using the following list of words in an urban setting: “blow,” “knees,” “shanties,” “circle,” “bank,” “foam,” “cruise,” “hungers,” “graffiti,” “mirror,” “walls,” “cash” and “horizon.” Where possible, try to switch nouns to verbs and verbs to nouns.

Bonus prompt: write an ekphrastic poem using either of the watercolors by Xiao Faria da Cunha, which accompanied the three poems by Sirianna Helleloid.

Bonus bonus prompt: write a poem or short story from the sand mermaid I made years ago at Newport Beach.

What is she reaching for?

And what does it mean that even the wind will erase her? How temporary is our own existence as the waters rise?

Well, on that last cheerful note, good luck writing! Have fun!

Wonderful Experience with Twin Bird Review

I am so grateful to have a poem published in the latest issue of Twin Bird Review: the editor-in-chief, Amanda K. Horn was wonderful to work with and so encouraging, and the artwork chosen to accompany my piece beautiful. I hope to find more art by Xiao Faria da Cunha. If you have time, check out my poem “Why I Remain a Desperate Party Clown,” inspired by Taylor Mali’s Metaphor Dice prompt.

I enjoyed the poems chosen, particularly the three poems by Sirianna Helleloid. I hope you can check them out and the whole issue. Let me know which poems and stories are your favorite (I haven’t finished reading the fiction or the essay yet).

Have a great night!

Grief and Choices—Prompts Inspired by Layli Long Soldier

As always, Chen Chen shares amazing poems, and Layli Long Soldier is a wonderful poet, whom I need to read more of.

The first prompt involves two parts. The first is a Mad Libs writing exercise in which you keep the format of the original (including the shape and the spacing), substitute “grief” with another emotion (try for a positive emotion first) and replace all the verbs with your own. Next replace the “we” to another pronoun (“I” or “you”). For the second part, remove the last lines from the original (“into light as ash / across our faces”) and rearrange what you’ve written into stanzas (couplets, quatrains or whichever feels the most natural to you). Provide your own ending. See what happens.

The next prompt is to write your own poem using ten of the verbs from this poem. For a constraint, use nature imagery.

The third prompt is a like a Choose Your Own Adventure. For each line, choose one of the options (e.g. “As we / (embrace) / the (past) / we (begin) / to (accept) / the grief / we (shift) / into light as ash / across our faces”) and make this a ghostline. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

Bonus prompt: What emotion or event has carved your own path (or that of a character’s in planning a short story or longer piece of fiction).

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Because—Prompts Inspired by Beth Marquez

I love this poem by Beth Marquez, published by Mulberry Literary, builds upon itself to that breathtaking ending and allows readers to make their own connections between the images and reasons.

For the first prompt, make a list of causes without stating the effects or clarifying their connections, using “Because” as an anaphora.

As a supplement to this prompt, change “Because” to another conjunction for the anaphora. What happens when you use “but” or “when” or “if”?

Your second prompt is to use “Because the footsteps in the hall / are approaching” as a ghostline for a poem or short story. Or choose another statement from the poem for an ghostline. After using it as a jumping off point, remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

The third prompt is to write a poem or story using the following word list: “flush,” “steep,” “shine,” “leaves,” “locks,” “lace,” “clasp,” “bloom,” “mouth” and “fall.” Try to switch up the parts of speech (nouns for verbs and vise versa). Bonus points if you can use “oubliette” and “shawl” in your piece.

And the last prompt is simply a writing exercise. Mad Lib the poem, changing all the nouns and adjectives. If you like a particular line (or entire because-statement), use that for your first line.

Good luck! Have fun!

Gratitude—Prompts Inspired by W. S. Merwin

I am awed by this praise poem by W. S. Merwin. I have not learned to adapt to the tragedies, the injustices and sorrows of life and certainly cannot feel gratitude for them. Perhaps it is enough to feel grateful for the small kindnesses, to smile at strangers on the street and at doors, to wave at a car that lets me in onto a busy road, to thank people during our brief interactions, and to mean it when I say, “Have a good day.” Or perhaps these small courtesies simply allow us to sink deeper with a smile.

For the first prompt, make your own praise poem of resentments, fears regrets and tragedies, thanking each one. Remember to give credit to the poet for your inspiration.

The next prompt is to take one tragedy or hurt in your life and see it through the perspective of gratitude. As much pain as the stillbirth caused me, my daughter would not been conceived if her brother could have lived. I cannot imagine my life without her in it.

A third prompt is to use the line “with the animals dying around us” as a ghostline. See where it takes you. Remember to erase the line and credit the poet.

For a final prompt, create a list poem with the last word or phrases repeated. Don’t use “thank you” though; use an endearment, a curse or a phrase you commonly use.

Bonus prompt: write a story or poem in which the photo above is the setting. Choose whatever time period seems appropriate, although this is a photo I took this week of an old barn on the gravel lane to my parents’ house. What does it say about time when a modern photo could seem decades old? Why does black-and-white still convey the past, as if time is a bleaching or fading of events?

Good luck writing! Have fun!

World of Poetry Reading Tomorrow!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving if you celebrate it—I am still stuffed.

I once again managed to sneak in with accomplished poets from around the world. Please join me tomorrow morning (8am Central). If you cannot make it—just too early, I completely understand—I will post a recording of the live event. I promise I won’t forget this time!

Btw, here is a link to the recording for the last reading I participated in since I forgot to post it: The World of Poetry reading 63. I hope you enjoy it!

Tense Times, Voice and the Partings of Speech—Editing Prompts

I’ve been thinking about the power of language to divide and categorize: the euphemisms used in war and violence by those with power; how passive voice hides the perpetrator of a shooting or a bombing; how one group of people are agents of their actions, but others recipients, innocent of deed.

What voice do you use in your poems; in spite of the constant reminder to use strong, active verbs does the passive slip in? Is there a poem or story in which your speaker denies agency? Would passive voice demonstrate that stance? As always, who is your speaker/narrator, some version of you, or another persona entirely? Some critics denigrate the use of “I” in a poem or story, but I distrust anyone who believes they can be fully objective in their own life or perform as some omniscient observer neutrally accounting an event even if I enjoy the stories written in third person.

For the first editing prompt, take an unfinished or discarded poem or short story and adjust the voice of the speaker/narrator—changing syntax and tone—to one different from the original or from your own habitual style. In Eric Morago’s workshop series, we are often asked to write in another poet’s style. Focusing on someone else’s voice taught me much about my own and offered more directions for me to move within my writing.

Even verb tense can illustrate as much as it obscures.

I am unsure how helpful such focus is in the initial draft of a poem or story, but I think such considerations are necessary in the revision and in developing as a writer.

For the next prompt, again choose a poem or a short story that feels unfinished to you, and (making a copy of that document) change the verb tense—yes, I know past tense is traditional for prose. What happens to the pacing? What other changes do you need to make for it all to fit? Does a story or narrative told in first person feel as “factual” or “recorded” in the present tense? Can the reader—or will a reader other than you—feel the weight of prior events influencing the present moment you describe?

Again, this is just for experiment, so you will probably change the tense back to your original, but it may offer insights in revising rough areas or lines/sections that don’t fit together.

Let’s move from tense to parts of speech. Since reading Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red I cannot stop thinking about this particular section:

To me, adjectives also are a way of further dividing and separating into categories. Sometimes the particulars are needed to express your meaning, setting a scene or creating an imagistic poem. While writers are often told to avoid adverbs and focus on active verbs, adjectives can build up.

For the next exercise, take a poem or story, and strip it of all of its adjectives. What happens? Do you need more nouns? Does the piece become too stark, empty or even vague? Add back an adjective one at a time but pause to consider how each one allocates the place a character/speaker or object within the described moment or place. What positions are you assigning to your subjects (objects)?

I hope these exercises will be helpful.

Bonus prompt: write a brief description of this photo of Cleveland Clinic

Now reconsider that description or combine it into a poem or the setting of a story after seeing the black and white photo of the same building (and different angle/location). What draws your eye?

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Protest and Reflections—Prompts Inspired by Mimesis

I have to share this poem with what is happening especially since this poet has lost so many family members and his community.

It is wrong (and all too easy) to appropriate others’ trauma but seems callous not to acknowledge the horrors taking place.

Your first prompt is to write a protest poem against the killing of civilians and ethnic cleansing.

The second prompt is use the title of the poem—“the representation of imitation of the real world in literature”—as inspiration. Take a personal moment or conversation to represent the current atrocities or a lesser injustice.

The last prompt is to write a love poem to a lover, a friend, family member(s) or to an entire community.

Good luck writing and may tomorrow be a better day for everyone.

Erasing Rejection—Prompts

Hi all, I once again missed posting about NaNoWriMo—the challenge to write 50,000 on a new novel during November. You can start now, although it can be hard to catch up. If you’ve already started, keeping going and congrats! It can be a lot of fun, especially if you join the community surrounding the event.

For poetry peeps though, let’s write some poems using erasure of our submission rejections. I’ve loved the poems I’ve seen on Twitter and other sites. I am unsure who came up with the idea, but I first came across those by Rachel Orta. Somehow the harsher the funnier these are.

After yet another rejection from Palette Poetry, this one particularly spoke to me:

So for the first prompt, take a rejection letter from a recent submission and erase all those kind encouragements, form-letter letdowns and harsh rebuffs into a soul-destroying or just funny response. Do remember to delete the publication’s and editor(s)’ names so that exercise doesn’t become an attack. I have so much material to choose from! Yay?!

As an alternative use this same process to create a poem from a breakup letter or text (once the pain has subsided and the relief has set in).

Bonus prompt: Create a list poem of phrases from rejection letters as Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz does in her “Notes on Rejection.” Listen to her read it here.

Have fun with the pain! Good luck!

World of Poetry Reading Tomorrow!

I am so excited to have been invited again! Please join me tomorrow morning for the live reading (7am Pacific and 9am Central)! I will post a link to the YouTube recording later tomorrow if you cannot.

Unintended Consequences and Regret

It has been months since I’ve posted. The day before my mom and I were to fly to Cleveland Clinic for her heart surgery, she fell. I was in the room with her but was looking away. I’d noticed her unsteadiness earlier, but at that moment she was leaning against the counter, so I thought her safe and went back to doomscrolling. Then I heard her gasp and looked up to see her falling sideways. She was on the ground before I could reach her.

The fall caused a compression fracture in her back. She couldn’t have the bypass in Cleveland and was sent home after a defibrillator insertion (the fall may have been due to arrhythmia). She has been hospitalized since for fluid buildup in her lungs and was discharged. Likely, this process will continue every four or five weeks until she has either a stent or a bypass, but the risks of surgery are high, and doctors are leery. It is possible that my momentary distraction will cut years from her life. Yes, intention matters, but consequences can be just as devastating as any malice. She does not blame me. I do.

The only prompt I have tonight is to write a list of mistakes and unintended consequences on a piece of paper. Burn the paper and spread the ashes in a pot or in the ground and plant something you wish to grow there. Write a poem for what you hope will sprout.