Poetry Prompt: Reflection/Projection

Can you believe that it's almost 2014? This year seems to have blown past me like a runaway train!

image by Danilo Rizzuti
from freedigitalphotos.net

As we approach the end of this year, take some time to look back at everything you have accomplished this year. Did you participate in NaPoWriMo in April? Or OctPoWriMo in October? I know that personally, I've written more poems this year than any previous year of my life. But this is only the beginning.

I am setting very lofty writing goals for 2014 including writing a poem a day for the entire year. I won't promise that they will all make it to my blog, but they will be written! What about you? Have you set some writing goals, specifically poetry writing goals? If you'd like, share your goals with us in the comments below or form them into your response to this week's prompt.

We here at Poets on the Page are thrilled that you have joined us in this new venture and we look forward to reading your poems and sharing our own with you in 2014. Happy New Year!

Poetry Prompt: Reflect back on 2013. What is the BEST poem you wrote this year? Share it with us again! Project forward into 2014... set your writing goals into a poetic form!

Word Prompt: Reflect and/or Project

Suggested Form (optional): The Mirror Sestet

~Amy McGrath

Link Up! (If for any reason the linky isn't working, please share your link in the comments!)

Share your poetry with us by linking up. Make sure you visit your neighbors one or two before and after. If you are last on the list go back to the beginning of the list. Have fun!

Poetry Prompt: Believe

Do you believe in Santa Claus? I do. Of course, I'm not referring to an overweight old man in a red suit, but rather the spirit of giving that Santa represents.

Many people around the world will be celebrating Christmas this week. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary. I believe he is the Son of God. And I believe he came to earth for me and for you. I'm sure that some of you that frequent this blog are practitioners of other faiths. And I welcome you to share your beliefs with us through your poetry.

Do you believe in God? Allah? Buddha?
Do you believe in love? angels?
Do you believe in magic? miracles?
Do you believe in yourself?
What do you believe?


Poetry Prompt: My challenge to you, my fellow poets, is to write a poem this week about what you believe.

Word Prompt: Believe/Belief

Suggested Form: Rondeau

~Amy McGrath

Link Up! 

Share your poetry with us by linking up. Make sure you visit your neighbors one or two before and after. If you are last on the list go back to the beginning of the list. Have fun!

December Mini Poetry Challenge Day 5: Celebrate!

Welcome to the last prompt from the December  Mini-Challenge series from Poets on the Page!

I have completely enjoyed being on this ride and look forward to the next time. I hope you do, too!

Yesterday we wrote cento poetry. Some of you may wonder why I elected that particular form. 

Naturally, there are several reasons. One is you have the joy of reading other poems. Another reason is you not only read the poems, you interact with the poems. From my experience, actually crafting with a beloved (or at least well known) other poet is one of the ways I have gotten to be a better poet. 

Finally, there are so many surprises when we collage our words with others.

So, this week you may have written a poem about destruction. You were able to choose the three lines you thought were the most resonant and use them to write another poem. That was sort of a premonition for the Cento – choosing lines from another poem and building upon it.

And now, it is Friday – and we will celebrate our poetic journey this week.

Even if this is your first time here, words and poetry and sounds and gathering with other poets is, in my mind, always a perfectly fine reason to celebrate.

Here is your chance to do a jig or make a poetic speech or even write a limerick or two.

Just have fun! You’ve done a tremendous job and if you missed any of the prompts, they’re not going anyplace – you may try them out at any time – and I hope you will!

Word Prompt: Celebrate!

Energetic Prompt: We're having a poetry party!

Visual Prompt: See the dancing and festivities to the left.

If there is not a linky below, please leave your link in the comments so that others may come, visit and comment on your poetry celebrations!

Its been a joy to write with you!

-- Julie Jordan Scott

December Poetry Mini Challenge Day 4: Let's Write a Cento!

Today we are going to play with a couple different poetic fascinations.

The first is the style of poem we will each be creating – that is if you choose to write this type of poem at all.

We will be writing a Cento poem. Normally, I am not big on telling folks to write a specific form, but you may not yet have caught onto what has been working underneath the prompts. 

Or maybe you have figured out what I layered underneath the prompts.

The first day: Demolish and tearing down. (Taking a poem and crushing it)

The second day: new beginnings with the raw materials being your demolish and tearing down poem

The third day: encouragement and continuing... even when its tough.

The fourth day? We will be writing poems that are collages made up of other poems which is a poetry form called a Cento. 

This week each challenge day built upon the previous day.

December Poetry Mini-Challenge Day 3

Welcome, welcome!

If this is your first time to the Mini-Challenge, please jump right in with us. You may go back and see what we’ve done thus far or you have the option of simply starting where you are: right here. This is a place of creative permission. We welcome you to be a part of our community and contribute as you feel called.

Now:  a bit of recap before today’s prompt.

Monday we wrote about tearing things down. 

Yesterday we wrote about new beginnings.

Today, we will write about continuing… even when you may not feel much like continuing.

I don’t know about you, but aside from this challenge my week has been getting more and more difficult as we have progressed. My shoulders feel as if I have traded with Sisyphus, pushing and pushing a huge stone up the ridiculously tall hill and efforting-efforting-efforting…. only to have the stone roll back over me when I think I’ve completed my task.

December Mini Poetry Challenge Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of the December Mini Poetry Challenge. I'm so glad you came by! You may start writing at any point in the challenge and finish writing at any point in the challenge. Just leap in and be welcomed.

To recap: Yesterday, we wrote along the theme of demolish or demolition and you will be glad to know there is always a method to my madness.

Today we are going to build on the theme of demolishing.(Yes, the pun is intended.)

If you wrote a poem yesterday, choose three lines that you feel are particularly well crafted AND they speak to you.

If you didn’t write a poem yesterday, take then minutes to free write (stream of consciousness, without thought, just let your pencil flitter across the page). When you are done, pick out three phrases that speak to you.

Those three lines are now going to go from a state of being demolished to a state of a new beginning.

December Poetry Mini Challenge - - Day 1

Welcome to the December Mini-Challenge from Poets on the Page!

I hope you are ready for an adventure in writing this week, a chance to explore and play with your poetry in a way which may be different for you.

With that in mind, I would ask you approach the poetry you work on this week from the space of a beginner. For those concepts you've worked with a lot, instead of thinking "I know this!" think, "What is the lesson for me in this?"

I find repetition, or topics synchronistically popping up over and over, happens for a reason.

Poetry Link Up: Waiting

Image by PEN_at_work

Share a link to your poem here!

Writing Prompt: What are you waiting for? Are you tired of waiting? There are even special rooms that are designated as "waiting rooms".  Feel free to use one of the events mentioned above or to share an event in your own life that involved waiting - a wedding, a pregnancy, or perhaps even the end of life. Try to capture the emotions that are connected to waiting or anticipating something.

Word Prompt:  Waiting or Anticipation

Poetry Prompt: Waiting

Image by George Hodan

This time of year often brings with it a sense of anticipation. This has been made even more pronounced in my family as I watched my 14-year-old son's excitement building for the 50th anniversary simulcast of the BBC series Dr. Who occurring on the same weekend as the premier of the second movie in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire.

Now we're waiting for the annual gathering of extended family to celebrate the American tradition of Thanksgiving. The next day, many in our consumer culture will be waiting in long lines on "Black Friday" to buy holiday gifts for family and friends. My Jewish friends are anticipating the lighting of the menorah in celebration of Hanukkah. And the Christian season of Advent begins where we anticipate the coming of the holy infant Jesus. 

Writing Prompt: What are you waiting for? Are you tired of waiting? There are even special rooms that are designated as "waiting rooms".  Feel free to use one of the events mentioned above or to share an event in your own life that involved waiting - a wedding, a pregnancy, or perhaps even the end of life. Try to capture the emotions that are connected to waiting or anticipating something.

Word Prompt:  Waiting or Anticipation

Suggested Poetry Form: Alliterisen **The suggested forms are entirely optional. This one appears to be a very complex poetic form. Are you up for the challenge? What are you waiting for? Go for it!

Even though Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, the link up will still be here and available for up to a week afterward. Please come back and share a link to your poem and take a few minutes to read the poems of others. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!

~ Amy McGrath

Poetry Link Up: Thankful

Monday's prompt is about being thankful: 

Writing Prompt: Tell us what you are thankful for or how you are thankful. Or both. You can do this in list form, story form - however you choose. Let us celebrate the season and the spirit of giving thanks through the beauty of poetry.

I'm thankful for all the wonderful poetry I know you'll come up with! Thanks for linking up.

Link Up! 

Poetry Prompt: Thankful

Norman Rockwell 

It's Thanksgiving time. What are you thankful for?  This is a wonderful time to express your gratitude through prose. 

Writing Prompt: Tell us what you are thankful for or how you are thankful. Or both. You can do this in list form, story form - however you choose. Let us celebrate the season and the spirit of giving thanks through the beauty of poetry.

Be sure to return on Thursday to link up your posts. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

Mini Poetry Prompt - Sacred Truth

Poetry Prompt: 

What is your sacred truth, something you know without a doubt to be true or believe with all of your heart. This can be spiritual, family, life etc.

Playing with form, from Shadow Poetry - Line Messaging

Monday's Challenge - Write a poem about your journey this week of exploring poetry.

It is time to draw this to a close

look at how you dove in head first

to make sense of what captures your heart

and turning it inside out and upside down

has your words spilling onto the page

~Morgan Dragonwillow

We will continue our regularly scheduled weekly poetry prompts on Monday and link up on Thursday. Hope you had fun this week taking it deeper and exploring one of your favorite poems. Join us next month, Monday, Dec. 9th for our second week long challenge. Hope to see you there!

Mini Poetry Prompt - Holding In

Poetry Prompt: 

What are you holding in? Isn't it time you let it out?

Playing with form - from Shadow Poetry, CinqTroisDecaLa Rhyme

Monday's Challenge, choose one word that symbolizes the poem you chose or the poem you created from it and do an Acrostic poem.

Mini Poetry Prompt - Going deeper

Continuing the week long mini poetry challenge here is your next poetry prompt.

Poetry Prompt:

Write a poem rich with feeling, using as many feeling words as you are able.

Playing with form - from Shadow Poetry, The Pictorial

Monday's Challenge: Do a little research on the poet that wrote the poem you chose and tell us about them. Write a poem to the poet.

Mini Poetry Prompt - Forever Loved

The poetry prompts for the rest of the week long poetry challenge are going to be short and possibly sweet.

Poetry Prompt: 

What old piece of clothing or shoes do you absolutely refuse to get rid of because of, where you got it (or who gave it to you), where you wore it, or they were just your absolute favorite etc. Tell us in your poetry about that over loved or heart wrenching treasured clothing/shoes.

Playing with a poetry type from Shadow Poetry, Inverted Refrain

Remember these are only suggestions and you can choose to write your poetry in any form inspired by whatever inspires you.

Monday's Challenge - If the poem that you chose had a flavor, what flavor would it be?

Poetry Challenge Week - Exploring a Poem

Today we start the first mini poetry challenge that we will have once a month beginning on the second Monday. The beginning of this poetry challenge is for you to choose a poem and tell us why or rather what it is about it that you love. Is it the topic, the flow, the rhythm, the rhyming, or is it more than one thing you love about it? What is it that draws you into it and why it is important to you?

This isn't about tearing something apart; this is about understanding what it is that draws you in so that you can understand your own poetry better and in doing so adding breadth and depth to it.

Different Ways to Explore

Read it out loud.
Read it backwards (line by line not word for word)
Write down your feelings about it.
Is the topic one that you find yourself drawn to again and again?

There is no wrong way to do this, just tell us all you can about the poem that you choose.

In future challenges we will be choosing one specific poet or poem to explore but I thought it would be nice for everyone to choose one of their own to start with.

Now if you are one that has stayed away from other poetry for whatever reason, (I did until I started understanding why and what poetry I actually like to read and explore) don't worry, this is your chance to find poetry that you enjoy.

If you do not have any poetry books, go to Amazon online and you can take a look at their free poetry ebooks to explore as well as other poetry ebooks. I would recommend choosing one that you can download onto your Kindle app (whether on a Kindle, other tablet, or on your computer) so that you can read it and do this exploration now instead of in a week or two or three when a book in print would arrive. Although you could also go to your local book store and choose a book there as well to have it in hand today. You have options, just find a poem that draws you in and has you wanting to explore more about it.

Yes you can even go to the library.

Thanks to Amy McGrath for sharing this website for finding poems, Poem Hunter, for another place to discover poetry.

After you have accomplished the above write a poem in the same style as the poem you explored and put it at the bottom of the post with the information above.

Let the poem itself inspire your poem.

Take your time with this; the link will be open until Sunday, Nov. 17th. Come back tomorrow for a mini poetry prompt.

Poetry Link Up - Deep

Once a week you will find a poetry prompt on Monday and then come back and link up on Thursday. Have you been writing for the Poetry Prompt - Deep? Did you write one poem or more than one? Now is the time to share your poetry that you have been working on this week, whether it was for the prompt or not, and link up below.

Autumn Smiling - Photo from Public Domain Pictures

Remember next week will be our first week long challenge. Come back this coming Monday to discover what we have in-store for you!

Poetry Prompt - Deep

This is later than it normally will be. I am getting used to this new schedule. This is your chance to take your time with the poetry prompt or to write more than one for it. It is your choice but you won't have to link up until Thursday in a separate post. We will be going at a slower speed than we did for OctPoWriMo except during the second week of the month when we do our challenge that will help you take your poetry even deeper.

Sea Cave - Photo from Public Domain Pictures. 

Poetry Prompt: Deep is the ocean, deep are relationships. Free write for ten minutes about what deep means to you.

Word Prompt: Deep

Exploring Poetry Types: Every week you will have an opportunity to explore a different poetry type from Shadow Poetry. This week it is a traditional form, Nonet.

Feel free to choose to write your poetry in whatever form you choose, all of the prompts are only suggestions to help inspire and motivate you to write your poetry on the page.

Remember to come back on Thursday to link up and share your poems.

~Morgan Dragonwillow

OctPoWriMo Day 31 - Endings and New Beginnings

I am so happy that so many of you stuck with us and wrote poetry everyday during OctPoWriMo. It has been a pleasure working with and receiving so much help from Julie Jordan Scott, Linda Roy, Janet Parfitt, Amy McGrath, and Nimue.

Some things have to end for new things to begin

Today is the last Poetry Prompt for OctPoWriMo 2013, for those of you that wrote a poem everyday I congratulate you! Some of you have expressed sadness that this is coming to an end and the team and I decided to create Poets on the Page to continue to inspire and motivate you all year long. I hope you decide to join us.

Poetry Prompt: 

What in your life is coming to an end making way for something new? How do you handle endings, are they easy or hard? Samhain/Halloween is a time where the veil between worlds is thin and a good time to say goodbye to those that have passed in the last year, who do you need to say goodbye to? What closure do you need? Free write answering one or more of these questions.

Word Prompt:

Endings - beginnings

Shadow Poetry type, Loop Poetry

For those of you like me that will be playing catch up, you have until November 7th to link up your poetry on the prompt you're writing for.

Thank you so much for playing along with us during OctPoWriMo 2013!

Poets on the Page

The team and I over at OctPoWriMo decided we would like to continue on inspiring and motivating other poets through challenges and poetry prompts more than just in October, hence Poets on the Page is born.

Prompts and Challenges

We will be posting our weekly poetry prompts on Mondays and linking up on Thursdays, giving you more time to work with the prompt, playing with your words and creating your poems. The second Sunday of every month we will challenge you for one full week of diving deeper into poetry.

We will be adding more pages and filling out this blog as we go along and the first prompt will be posted on Monday, November 4th.

Until then I challenge you to explore poetry through books, movies, and YouTube (slam poetry) to discover new poems/poets that inspire you.

Keep those poetry tools out, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and let's discover how deep we can go as we throw open all the doors to writing poems from the heart.

Poetry Prompt Day 30: Writing about the Hard Stuff

Image by Brandon Olterman 

Poetry can take us so many wonderful places. It can be beautiful, sweet, loving, and gentle. But that's not where I want us to go today.


On this, the eve of Halloween, I want us to play in the dark. Words have power. YOUR words have power. Take a moment and let that sink in.

YOUR         WORDS          HAVE          POWER.

In my own writing, I often take on difficult subject matter. I throw open the closet doors, drag out the skeletons, polish them with words, then prop them up on the porch for the world to see. There is incredible freedom in exposing darkness to light. Through poetry (and other forms of art) we can shed light on the dark places in our world and, in doing so, ignite small fires for change.



"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep."      ~ Salman Rushdie

"Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes."      ~ Joseph Roux

"A poem begins with a lump in the throat."      ~ Robert Frost


There are so many possible topics to consider here: child abuse, bullying, violence, addiction, terrorism, discrimination, pollution, eating disorders, mental illness, diseases, etc.

Be brave. Go into the dark. Choose a subject and expose it to the bright light of your words.

Here are some examples of issues exposed through dance to further inspire you:

Addiction - choreography by Mia Michaels




Bullying - choreography by Bonnie Story



Breast Cancer - choreography by Tyce Diorio



Child helping parent - choreography by Travis Wall








The Prompt: Choose a social issue that is important to you for your poem today. What calls your attention? Write from either a very individual and personal perspective or from a broad and global one.

Word Prompt: Social Issues


~ Amy McGrath

OctPoWriMo Day 29: Epitaph Poems

Halloween is lurking and we are also reaching the end...of OctPoWriMo 2013 that is.
In honor of the ghoulish holiday and the impending demise of our month of poetry...mwahaha...(maniacally creepy laugh is not optional) the prompt for today is to write an Epitaph Poem. 

An epitaph poem is a tasteful summarization of the life of a person. A kind of poetic eulogy if you will. The idea is to emphasize the positive aspects of the deceased. Epitaph poems can be humorous, dark, brooding, maudlin, serious, whatever you like. Some begin with "Here lies..." followed by thoughts about the deceased.  Prompt: Write an epitaph poem.  It can rhyme or not. It can be funny if you'd like. It can be about a fictional character or a well known person who has passed. You can choose to write about a beloved pet or a loved one you wish to pay tribute to or you can simply make it spooky for Halloween.  And if spooky is where you're headed...a little tip: imagine it being read by Vincent Price or Christopher Walken. I think that's a pretty good litmus test. Have a ghoulish good time!

OctPoWriMo Poetry Prompt Day 28 _ Who are we?

This has been another October to remember. I have enjoyed OctPoWriMo this year, but once again I was in the midst of taking care of health issues while I was also co-creating the prompts and the community here. I wish I could’ve put time on hold while I was both preparing and

recovering.

I hope to get around to more of your poetry in the coming weeks.

With that said, here is my final prompt for you to write your way into during October, 2013

Ready?

Last week I saw a movie that has sparked a lot of thought for me. 

It is called “I Am” and is a documentary about how a serious situation turned into a quest. A lot of what he says is familiar territory for me, but it was so interesting to hear his perspective along with the science behind it. The movie's premise is based on exploring human nature. The director, Tom Shadyac, visits the most respected, influential thinkers of today to interview them ask them several basic questions.

 

He also visits his father and asks him the same questions.

Today we’re going to focus on the people who have influenced on our lives for the better, such as our parents, poets (for any Rumi fans, Coleman Barks is one of the thinkers in the film), philosophers, educators, scientists and our next door neighbor. Perhaps our child. Maybe it is a stranger you met one time and the conversation you had with that five minute friend changed the direction of your life.

Today we are going to focus on their story in relationship to your story - our story - and how your lives have intersected.

Tell that story in poetic form, whichever form you would like to use.

I will give a slight suggestion for you to take or not take. Please take a few moments to consider who to write about by making a list of people before you choose one subject.

Start with 5 to 10 people and allow yourself time and space to add to the list before you start writing. This isn't a poem to speed through for the sake of checking the "writing poetry" task for today off your list.

This is a poem to allow to simmer for at least a little while.

Quotes for inspiration:

“We tell stories in order to live.”

Joan Didion

“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split apart.”

Muriel Rukeyser

“Life is made up of stories, not atoms.”

Muriel Rukeyser

Word Prompt:

She/He is… I am… We are…

Sentence starter prompts:

I remember her/him….

I remember we together…...

Poetry Prompt Day 27 - Get Your Rhyme On

I get in a mood and I love to play with rhyme. Pull out those rhyming dictionaries or pull up the RhymeZone and let's have some fun.

Something magically inspiring.

For this poetry prompt I chose several different rhyming formats from Shadow Poetry with each subsequent poetry type increasing in difficulty. You can choose to do one, two, or all three. Or you can choose to do none of them and decide to do something else entirely.

Rhyme Prompt One - Monorhyme

Rhyme Prompt Two - Duo-Rhyme

Rhyme Prompt Three - Diatelle

Word Prompt: Daring

Remember that these are suggestions only and you can choose to find your inspiration for your poetry wherever it may be.

Poetry Prompt Day 26 - Father, Mother, Sister, Brother...

This is a picture of my mum and dad; it is quite unusual because my mother would probably prefer to have her head sawn off than have her photo taken so I actually don't have many pictures of her. But my prompt for you today is about family. It can be any member of your family; could be a step-sister or even the family budgie if you prefer. We all have a huge amount of baggage, both good and bad, when it comes to our families.

The tone of your poem is completely up to you. You can explore the skeletons in your family closet or go back to a more blissful childhood memory when everything seemed safer. Only you can decide how to respond to this but try not to judge; just explore, record and move.

OctPoWriMo Day 25: Celebrations, Good Times and Poetry

To begin: we are going to take a moment to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n.

Think for a moment about the important rituals, holidays and other significant celebrations in your life. 

How about three inhales and three exhales and just open your mind and heart to YOUR holiday or special day.

Today marks a very important day to me: in two months my daughter, Katherine, will turn twenty-two years old. 

I swear, I don’t know how my children grow up and I continue to look and feel as young as when they were little – but nonetheless, December 25, 2013 marks the start her being twenty-two. I’m sort of nervous because I got married at twenty-three. Youch.

For many people, December 25 is an important holiday.

For others, there are other significant dates and times to get through: my younger daughter abhors Thanksgiving, which for the United States is in the end of November. I’ve decided I will create a special party the Sunday before that holiday and have people bring a variety of foods and we start crafting a new sort of Thanksgiving Emma can love.

I have sort of been a lousy holiday person since the many loss experiences I have had and the impact those losses had on my holiday celebrations. I tend to have somewhat grief filled holidays. 

I rarely talk about it.

I rarely write about it.

What about you?

I thought today would be a grand day to write a poem about whatever special day you want to write about, be it a birthday, an anniversary, a festival, an opening night. Be creative and surprise us with your words.

Word Prompt: Celebration

Sentence Starter:    My next celebration will be….