Please note that these prompts will be used in the poetry contests. The function of this makala is to provide prompts ahead of time. The poetry contests will go in the same order as this list. Please do not submit works based on these prompts to the makala section, to avoid possible thievery. However, wewe are zaidi than welcome to print out au save this list.
1. Write a poem about one au all of the four seasons. (Some ideas for brainstorming: What does the season look, feel, smell like? What memories do wewe associate with that season?).
2. Write a poem using three of the following words: expensive, lampshade, bruise, convincing.
3. Write a poem about something that happened to someone wewe know. Write about it as if it had happened to you.
4. Write a poem about your shadow. (Some ideas for brainstorming: How does it change when wewe move? What does it look like in different kinds of light, in different situations? What would happen if wewe Lost it? Does it have a secret life?)
5. Write a poem using all of the following words: smooth, soothe, work, dark.
6. Write a poem based on a dream wewe had. Try to reproduce the sensations of the dream.
7. Write a poem based on your belief about life after death... au about what wewe WISH wewe believed.
8. Write a poem using all of the following words: snake, honey, thaw.
9. Write a poem from the perspective of a character in a fairy tale.
10. Write a poem using all of the following words: moth, angle, cloth, tangle.
11. Write a poem that tells the story of a specific upendo affair au marriage.
12. Write a poem in the form of a message au letter to your future self.
13. Write a poem about the color red au another color. (Some ideas for brainstorming: How does the color make wewe feel? What things do wewe associate with that color?)
14. Write a poem about a place that frightens wewe au a place where wewe feel happy. Try to recreate the feeling of the place.
15. Write a poem using all of the following words: exquisite, visit, glisten.
16. Write a poem about something au someone wewe lost.
17. Write a poem using all of the following words: dim, hinge, dingy.
18. Write a poem in the form of a lullaby.
19. Write a poem about yourself in which nothing is true.
20. Night-time
21. A particular color
22. Being underwater
23. A person whose life you're curious about
24. Your mother's perfume
25. Falling asleep au waking up
26. Growing older
27. The feeling of getting Lost in a book
28. How to know if you're in love
29. A bad dream
30. A ghost
31. Your city, town, au neighborhood
32. An important life choice you've made
33. Spring, summer, fall, au winter
34. Something most people see as ugly but which wewe see as beautiful
35. Jealousy
36. Becoming a parent
37. An event that changed you
38. A place wewe visited -- how wewe imagined it beforehand, and what it was actually like
39. The ocean
40. Forgetting
41. The speed of light
42. A voodoo doll
43. Reflections on a window
44. A newspaper headline
45. Your greatest fear
46. Your grandmother's hands
47. A particular toy wewe had as a child
48. Being invisible
49. A time wewe felt homesick
50. Having an affair, au discovering your partner is having one
51. Birthdays
52. A inayopendelewa chakula and a specific memory of eating it
53. An imaginary city
54. Driving with the radio on
55. Life in an aquarium
56. Dancing
57. Walking with your eyes closed
58. What a computer might daydream about
59. Time travel
60. Brothers au sisters
61. Your job, au a job you've had
62. Weddings
63. Leaving home
64. Camping
65. A zoo
66. A historical event from the perspective of someone who saw it firsthand (You will have to do some research for this).
67. Holding your breath
68. Intimacy and privacy
69. A time wewe were tempted to do something wewe feel is wrong
70. Physical attraction to someone
71. A superstition wewe have
72. Someone wewe admire
73. Write about the taste of: an egg, an orange, medicine, cinnamon
74. Write about the smell of: burning food, melting snow, the ocean, your grandparents' home, the inside of a bus, pavement after the rain
75. Write about the sound of: a radio changing channels, a dog howling, a football au baseball game, your parents talking in another room
76. Write about the sight of: lit windows in a house when you're standing outside at night, someone wewe upendo when he au she doesn't know you're watching, a dying plant, shadows on snow
77. Write about the feeling of: nyasi under bare feet, a really bad kiss, the headrush when wewe stand up too fast, sore muscles, falling asleep in the back kiti, kiti cha of a moving car.
78. a dessert, a memory, and someone in your family
79. dancing, a pitch-black room, and the smell of lilacs
80. a balloon, smoke, and a keyhole
81. a secret box, an ice cube tray, and a velvet ribbon
82. a betrayal, soap, and a plane ticket
83. Rain, snow, au a storm
84. An animal wewe think is beautiful au strange
85. Your parents au children
86. How a kiss feels
87. The house where wewe were born
88. A smell that brings back memories
89. Being a teenager, becoming an adult, middle age, old age
90. Feeling lonely
91. The moon
92. Getting lost
93. Marriage au divorce
94. An imaginary friend
95. Life in the future
96. The hottest, coldest, au most exhausted wewe have ever felt
97. Having a fever
98. A new version of a fairy-tale
99. The shapes wewe see in clouds
100. A letter
101. A recipe
102. A horoscope
103. A fragment from an unusual dictionary
104. A prayer
105. A shopping list
106. A magic spell.
107. One of your parents
108. Your child (real au imagined)
109. A historical figure (You will have to do research for this one.)
110. A very old person
111. An athlete who has just Lost the big game
112. The most popular/unpopular kid from your school
113. An inanimate object in your home.
114. Listen to a piece of muziki and write about the picha that it brings into your mind.
115. People-watch, eavesdrop, and write about your observations and imaginings.
116. Sit in a park and close your eyes. Notice all of the sounds and smells. Write about them afterward.
117. Keep a notebook inayofuata to your kitanda and write down your dreams at night to turn them into poems later.
118. Make a orodha of words wewe think are unusual, then try to use them in poems.
119. Watch an animal and write a poem about what it looks like and what it does.
120. Smell different spices in your jikoni and write about the memories that they inspire.
121. Look through old family photographs and choose some to write poems about.
122. Go on a "field trip" -- a museum, the zoo, a greenhouse -- to hunt for poetry ideas.
123. Get inspiration from vitabu on an area of science au history that interests you.
124. Three wishes
125. Traveling to an unknown place
126. Getting a haircut
127. A scientific fact (real au invented)
128. An insect that got into your home
129. The sound of a specific language
130. Death
131. The number 3
132. The ocean
133. Missing someone
134. Something that makes wewe angry
135. The feeling of writing, why wewe want to be a writer
136. The ups and downs of love
137. The view out your window
138. City lights at night
139. A particular work of art
140. Having a superpower
141. Being in an airplane
142. Playing a sport
143. A shadow
144. A person transformed into an animal
145. Daydream
146. Cry
147. Kiss well
148. Find happiness
149. Peel a peach
150. "Silky," "gigantic," and "puzzle."
151. "Leaf," "accelerating," and "sticky."
152. "Skin," "drastic," and "dusty."
153. "Interrupt," "nutmeg," and "crystalline."
154. "Exacting," "oxygen," and "delicate."
155. "Reptilian," "arched," and "honey."
156. First Kiss
157. Chained Angel
158. Empty Heart
159. Sirens Call
160. Bloodline
161. Soldiers Guilt
162. Mothers Guilt
163. Wilting Flower
164. Time Stopped
165. Hidden Away
166. Icy Tears
167. Dream Lover
168. Never Again
169. Slave Girl
170. Lost In a Dream
171. Tithe
172. Dream Catcher
173. Empty Coffin
174. Lost Days
175. The siku I Meet You
176. Angels Touch
177. Destiny’s Call
178. New Day
179. Black Rose
180. Say My Name
181. Stop My Heart
182. Midnight Hour
183. Don’t Leave
184. Love’s Spell
185. Old House
186. Shallow Grave
187. Broken Chair
188. Dancing Girl
189. Seductive Smile
190. Left Behind
191. Road kill
192. Great white hunter
193. Evil Smile
194. Angels Tears
195. The moon glowed as they danced…
196. Can wewe hear me call…?
197. The look in your eye makes me shiver in…
198. She was a thing of beauty and of light…
199. The moto is low and the curtains drawn…
200. Filled with sunshine and laughter…
201. The eagle let out a lonesome cry…
202. I burn for wewe in the darkness…
203. Draw me near and whisper gently…
204. Tell me it isn’t true…
205. The sign stood battered and worn
206. It breathed in the darkness inayofuata to me…
207. If the devil cried,
208. If the world ended tomorrow...
209. The eyes glowed in the darkness…
210. The waves rolled out across the sands…
211. The ghostly figure shimmered in the light…
212. The path winds forever forward…
213. Beware the charming smile in the night…
214. Lost in a dream…
215. The night was thick with romance…
216. Never parted
217. Stranger in the dark
218. Broken carriage
219. Forbidden meeting
220. upendo spell
221. Cursed
222. Tears of the vampire
223. A time to die
224. A dreams kiss
225. Midnight vow
226. Hunted
227. Broken sword
228. moyo of a killer
229. Living statue
230. Secret
231. Blood Slave
232. Painted glass
233. Hidden from sight
234. Shattered mirror
235. Forbidden meeting
236. Grandma
237. Job interview
238. Murdering heart
239. Secrets
240. Confusion
241. Blood tears
242. Liar
243. Reunion
244. Road kill
245. Blindness
246. Burning cross
247. Book
248. The wind
249. Poisoned flower
250. Wild
251. Mob
252. Innocent touch
253. Madness
254. Ancient
255. Beware
256. Blood pact
257. krisimasi ornament
258. Frozen
259. Broken promise
260. Telephone call
261. Road rage
262. Crossroads
263. Trapped
264. Witch’s familiar
265. Birth
266. Crying ghost
267. Garbage bin
268. Car accident
269. Floating body
270. Late to the party
271. Cursed town
272. False accusation
273. Death’s Visit
274. Woman scorned
275. Key
276. Grandma’s secret
277. Obsession
278. Devil’s tango
279. Broken dice
280. Miles to go
281. Overrun
282. Lost
283. Dead heart
284. Forbidden laughter
285. Old tree
286. Blue eyes
287. Vengeance
288. Dead bugs
289. Returning
290. Sound Off
Sounds are filled with meaning. Poets can use sounds not only to create wonderful and complex worlds through words, but also to create a rhythm and flow that gives life to the wind, the footsteps, and closing doors around us. Sit quietly somewhere with colorful and unique sounds: an art museum, a lonely riverbank, au a bustling subway station. Write a poem about the sounds wewe hear. Focus on the poetry and muziki of the sounds, and how the sounds put everything else—nature, life, and death—into context.
291. Disappointment
Poetry has very powerful redemptive and healing capacities. The mere process of uandishi and kusoma poetry forces us to connect with life on a meaningful, meditative level. Poetry requires a deliberate and calm contemplation that creates spaces for forgiveness, understanding, and self-awareness. Write a poem about a hivi karibuni disappointment in your life. Be honest about your feelings. The power of your poetry begins with your truths.
292. Focus on Family
Like snowflakes, every family is unique. From quirky aunts and greedy uncles to gracious moms and despicable cousins, every family is peculiar in some meaningful way. Write a poem about your family. Focus on the people who create the love, the pain, and the dynamics that define your family. Be honest. Be courageous. Be open.
293. Travel Poetry
It is estimated that 43.4 million Americans will travel fifty au zaidi miles this Thanksgiving weekend. Travel is so often inspiring because it mixes a sensory experience with the opportunity for a prolonged period of contemplation. Write a poem about a hivi karibuni trip wewe took. Carefully select your words to evoke the sights and sounds that accompanied the journey of your inner thoughts and feelings.
294. Changes
Our lives are constantly changing as we navigate what we can and can’t control. Every siku there is a new beginning and ending—in big and small ways. We fall in love. We lose an eyelash. Write a poem about how your life is changing. Be specific. Change is complex and emotional on any level because it reminds us of our humanity—and of our mortality. Get writing.
295. Lost and Found
We all lose things in life that are uniquely special to us: a wool scarf knitted kwa a beloved friend, a letter opener that belonged to a grandfather, a stuffed animal won for a daughter at a state fair. Life moves mbele and so do we. Time crowds old memories with new ones. We misplace the things we love. We lose them. Or, somehow, they just leave us. Write a poem about an object that has disappeared from your life. Use the power of memory and emotion to give it new life, rendering it no longer lost, but found.
296. Guest Poetry
The holiday season is here, which means wewe will soon be a guest at a work party, gathering of friends, au family-oriented celebration. This is the season for poets. Begin your “Thank You” poems now. Celebrate what companionship means to wewe and express your gratitude for the honor of being invited. Make your poems personal and sincere. (Consider attaching each poem to a nice bottle of wine and personally hand it to your host.)
297. Our Years of Fear
Halloween week is here. Write a poem about something wewe feared as a child. As adults we fear loneliness, intellectual and financial ruin, and—of course—death. However, children experience the world and their own humanity differently; yet, their fears are just as scary, valid, and profound. Begin the poem as an innocent child. End the poem as a mature adult.
298. Poetic Appreciation
Poetry is an act of appreciation. With our increasingly busy schedules, we lose our ability to appreciate. Poets must resist the modern temptation to overlook what holds meaning in our lives. Identify something in your surroundings—a rusted jembe, hoe draped in buibui webs, an unfashionable dress abandoned kwa time, a wine cork buried in a drawer of unpaid bills—and write a poem that appreciates these lonely items.
299. Relationships
Life is about relationships. As with everything in life, all relationships end for various reasons. Think about a relationship that wewe valued that has ended—a friend, a lover, a family member. Write a poem that encapsulates your sense of loss and appreciation and how this particular person impacted your life. The power of poetry transcends everything that ends.
300. Crash Poetry
Collisions spark creativity. Colors collide to form new colors. Opposing ideas create an inspired argument. Friction makes fire. Write a poem that combines two unrelated entities in your life: Imagine your birth certificate under a decaying woodpile, your mother-in-law clenching spark plugs, a bluebird imba in your freezer. Push your imagination. The words will follow.
301. Poetry for Humanity
The human race, kwa nature, is flawed. Deep within our DNA is the capacity for violence, hatred, and deceit. Choose an aspect of human nature that disturbs you. Write a poem describing this ugly and flawed characteristic of human nature. Write a sekunde poem about how we, the human race, can fix it.
302. Poetry Appreciation
Revisit one of your inayopendelewa poems kwa another poet. What appeals to wewe about this particular poem—the structure, the sound, the imagery, the subject matter? Write a poem dedicated to this poet and poem. onyesha your appreciation kwa instilling those same respected qualities in your own writing.
303. Train Changers
People come in and out of our lives like passengers on a train. Some stay for much of our journey. Others get on and off, quickly disappearing into their own travels. Write a poem about someone who became part of your life, but left the train. Who were they? Why do wewe miss them? What happened? Focus on tone, voice, and imagery.
304. Reaching Out
uandishi poetry can be a lonely endeavor. kusoma poetry, however, can introduce us to people and worlds we’ve never experienced. Use the power of poetry to help someone who is lonely. The woman resting her head on the steering wheel at a long red light. The old man with a soggy coaster at the end of the bar. The adolescent kid hiding in the school bathroom. Write a poem for them, from you.
305. Change of Words
The end of summer means the beginning of autumn. This is a time of change. Write a poem about the changes occurring in your life. Choose powerful verbs. Focus on the feelings of expectation, fear, and relief that come with change. Use vivid imagery. It is during change that we are often the most alive.
306. jikoni Table
The center of our families, our homes, and our most treasured conversations occur at the jikoni table. We discuss the vibrant color of sautéed asparagus, the deep laugh of a deceased grandfather, au sit quietly, alone, worrying about our children at 3am. Write a poem about your jikoni table, and the food, voices, and thoughts it has experienced over the years.
307. Window Words
Windows, like frames for picha and paintings, provide a context to the vast world around us. Sit kwa your inayopendelewa window and write a poem about life beyond the glass: diaphanous oak leaves spangled in sunlight, fatigued men hanging from a garbage truck, chirping songbirds flitting through summer rain, a hunched elderly woman who feels forgotten. Remember: This is your window as defined kwa your life. Give yourself thirty minutes.
308. chakula for Thought
Think of your inayopendelewa meal. Write a poem about the recipe, describing how each ingredient and every action contributes to the final whole. Evoke the five senses—from the sound of a whisk to the smell of paprika. Explore what this meal means to wewe and why. Write vibrantly, unless gruel is your thing.
309. Insecurity
uandishi poetry is an act of empowerment. Sit quietly at your desk. Think about what you’re most insecure about in life: being a good parent, making enough money, not being able to upendo fully. Write a poem about how wewe plan to overcome that insecurity.
310. Remembering the August Ahead
Time is what we call the brutal miracle that makes us grow old. Certain months of time remind us of falling in love, burying a loved one, au moving into a new house. This week, as we say goodbye to July, reflect on what August has meant to your life. Begin your poem with your childhood. Then describe how August has changed wewe and your perception of the world.
311. dakika to Explain
Poetry harnesses the power of metaphors and similes to reach a part of humanity that is inaccessible to all other forms of communication. Think about someone wewe love. Spend 15 dakika making a orodha of their notable attributes—both flattering and incriminating. Describe those attributes using simple metaphors and similes to explain the complex feelings this person evokes within you.
312. Your Other Life
Poetry, like life, is about making decisions. Write a poem to the person wewe may have become had wewe made an important life decision differently. Remember, this version of wewe is also vulnerable to the whims of an indifferent universe, so you’re merely making an educated guess as to your doppelgänger’s outcome. Craft your poem with respect. You’re uandishi to you.
313. Inch kwa Inch
Choose an inch of space anywhere around you: the sole of your hiking boot, the rusted headlight of an abandoned car, that weathered and broken thumb your grandfather used to pry open the back fence. Write about that inch. As poets we often become overwhelmed kwa the big picture. We seek to conquer love, injustice, and the meaning of meaning. Take a step back. Focus the scope of your poetry. uandishi about a single drop of rain can tell us the most about the sky above.
314. Life, friends, is boring
"For the poetry reader...there are certain emotions wewe are allowed to feel—sadness, love—but this is such a miserable choice of all the emotions one feels," writes Craig Raine in the English Review. "One feels anger, boredom, chilliness—quite strong emotions, but they don't get much of a run in poetry, and I think they should." Write a poem about anger au boredom au any other "nonpoetic" emotion. If wewe have trouble getting started, try using the first line of John Berryman's devastating "Dream Song 14": "Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so."
315. Flowers of Evil
On June 25, 1857, French poet Charles Baudelaire published his book Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), which led to his conviction on charges of blasphemy and obscenity. Here's a sample: "Huddled, teeming, like gut-worms kwa the million, a clutch of Demons make whoopee in our brain and, when we breath, Death floods our lungs, an invisible torrent, muffled in groans." Get good and dark: Read a bit from Flowers of Evil then write a short poem. Unleash the gut-worms!
316. How's the Weather?
"I know Midwesterners are accused of talking too much about the weather, but that criticism must surely come from people who don't have weather like ours," novelist David Rhodes once wrote to his editor at Milkweed Editions, Ben Barnhart. "These last few weeks have been filled with the bright, indolent humidity of summer, offset kwa sudden, tyrannical darkness and booming threats of Supernatural violence. Not mentioning such revolutionary experiences would be inhuman." Go Midwestern and write a poem about today's weather. And if you're interested, read "After the Flood: A profaili of David Rhodes," from the September/October 2008 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
317. Taming the Unruly
In a profaili of Natasha Trethewey in the September/October 2012 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, contributing editor Kevin Nance nukuu the poet laureate (who was elected to a sekunde term on Monday) about her use of poetic form. "I never set out to write in a particular form, but usually something in the early drafting process suggests to me the possibility of a form I might follow that might help take the poem in a better direction than I might have sent it without following that impulse,” Trethewey says. “I find that it helps me with poems that have seemed unruly for some reason—maybe the story is too big, au the emotion of it is overwhelming for me, and the form helps bring shape to it." Choose a poem that has been giving wewe trouble—an unruly poem of your own—and try to rewrite it as a sonnet, a villanelle, a pantoum, au another form. (Consult the Academy of American Poets website for help with poetic forms.)
318. Dark Rooms
In their introduction to My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer (Wesleyan chuo kikuu, chuo kikuu cha Press, 2008), Kevin Killian and Peter Gizzi write about Spicer's idea of the serial poem, "a book-length progression of short poems that function together as a single movement." Robin Blaser described the form as "a dark house, where wewe throw a light on in a room, then turn it off, and enter the inayofuata room, where wewe turn on a light, and so on." As Spicer's poetry "moves from dark room to dark room," Killian and Gizzi write, "each flash of illumination leaves an afterimage on the imagination, and the lines of the poem become artifacts of an ongoing engagement with larger forces." Read some of Jack Spicer's long poems, including The Holy Grail and Billy the Kid. Consider throwing a light on some rooms of your own.
319. May Swenson
In honor of the centennial anniversary of the birth of May Swenson, on May 28, read some poems kwa this award-winning poet (consult the Academy of American Poets website for a bibliography), then write a poem with her work in mind. Remember, this is a poet who, four months before her death on December 28, 1989, wrote, "The best poetry has its roots in the subconscious to a great degree. Youth, naivety, reliance on instinct zaidi than learning and method, a sense of freedom and play, even trust in randomness, is necessary to the making of a poem."
320. Overheard
Poetry is all around you. Find a public place—a train station, a park bench, a mitaani, mtaa corner, a coffee shop, a bookstore, the line at the Department of Motor Vehicles—and listen to the people around you. Choose one quote from a stranger and use it as the first and last line of a new poem.
321. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Print au write out a handful of unfinished poems you’ve had difficulty revising. Cut out each line and mix them up. Rearrange the lines to make a new poem. Consider using one of the lines as the title.
322. Achilles' Heel
Pick an iconic figure with a famous weak spot (Superman and kryptonite, Achilles and his heel, Samson and his hair, the Wicked Witch of the West and water). Write a letter from the ikoni to the weakness au from the weakness to the icon. Is it hate mail? A upendo poem? A blackmail note? Advice?
323. inayopendelewa Line
Choose a inayopendelewa au compelling line from another writer's poem, and write your own line with same number of stressed syllables and same vowel sounds. Use this line as the start of a new poem.
324. Write a Terza Rima
Write a Terza Rima, a poem of three-line stanzas in which the end-word of the sekunde line in the first tercet establishes the rhyme for the first and third lines in the following tercet and so on. The poem can have as many stanzas as you’d like, and the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc, ded, etc. continues through the final stanza.
325. A Poem for You
Write a poem of fourteen lines. Instead of using the first person (I), use only the sekunde person (you).
326. Turn It Over
Choose a word au phrase wewe find yourself saying often (e.g. like, totally, hate, really, kind of) and write a poem using it as much as possible, turning it over and over, repositioning it, extending it, playing with its uses and the parts of speech into which it can be shaped.
327. Just Say It
Choose a poem—a classic work au something you've newly discovered—and memorize it. As wewe do so, note the rhythms, sounds, and structure that help wewe remember it. To test your memory, and in honor of National Poetry Month, consider reciting it to a friend in person, leaving a recording of it on a friend's voicemail, au sending an audio file of it to one au zaidi Marafiki via e-mail.
328. Make a Collage
Make a collage inspired kwa a working draft of one of your poems, using picha from books, photographs, magazines, newspapers, and drawings. wewe may incorporate words as well. Let the transformation of your poem into another medium inform a revision of the poem on the page.
329. Record the Dailies
Collect phrases and words that wewe see throughout the siku today. Arrange them on the page, using line breaks where they seem to naturally fall. Next, above the lines you’ve recorded, write words and phrases that are somehow related to those on the page, such as synomyms, antonyms, au words that sound au look similar. Rewrite what you’ve recorded replacing the new words with the old. Use this as the first draft of a poem and continue revising it into a finished draft.
330. Look and Listen
Today there are fifteen lines of poetry that will present themselves to wewe in various ways. Some will be visual, some will be spoken. Look and listen carefully. Take the time to record them. Then refine them and use them to craft a poem.
331. Imaginary Friend
Write a poem in the form of a letter to an imaginary friend in which wewe ask them for help that begins, Dear Friend. Keeping the person au creature au entity you’re uandishi to in mind, include details and picha that reveal your imaginary friend’s characteristics as wewe craft your entreaty.
332. The Form It Takes
As poet Ted Kooser writes in The Poetry nyumbani Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets (University of Nebraska Press, 2005), “When it comes to the form your poem takes, wewe can determine it as wewe write....As wewe work on your poem, try to see what shape the poetry wants to assume.” Following Kooser’s advice, write a draft of a poem and analyze its structure. How many lines does it have? How many stanzas? How many stressed syllables per line? Look for a dominant pattern in what you’ve written and revise the poem to fit that pattern consistently.
333. Write a Villanelle
Choose two inayopendelewa lines from a working draft of a poem that needs revision. Write a villanelle, using those lines for the refrains. See the Academy of American Poets' website for zaidi about the villanelle form, a poem of nineteen lines made up of five stanzas with three lines each.
334. Text Me
Send a line of poetry to a friend via text message au e-mail and ask her to tunga a line in response. Collaborate on drafting a poem in this way, building it line kwa line until wewe both agree that it's reached its end. Using the final product as a draft, revise the poem and have your friend do the same. Compare your final drafts.
335. Clip Art
Using scissors, cut up one of your poems that needs revision into its lines au parts of lines. Rearrange these clippings in various combinations and create a new draft. Write a revision of your poem based on this new draft.
336. After Robert Frost
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of American poet Robert Frost. To honor this day, read Frost's poem "Stopping kwa Woods on a Snowy Evening" on the Academy of American Poets' website. Analyze the poem's structure, and write a poem with the same rhyme scheme and number of lines.
337. Playing With Definitions
Choose any word from the dictionary and read its definitions. Write a poem using only the language of these definitions. Try repeating them in different combinations and using line break to create unexpected phrases. Experiment with how far wewe can push the limits of the language you're working with. Use the word you've chosen as the title of the poem.
338. Powers of Observation
Look out your window au observe your surroundings and make a orodha of ten images. Choose the three that wewe find most compelling and freewrite about them, exploring any memories au associations they elicit. Put your freewriting exercise aside, and draft a poem that incorporates at least five of the picha from your list.
339. This Is Just to Say
Think about something that wewe did au alisema to someone that wewe regret. Write a poem of apology, comprising five four-line stanzas, with the same number of stressed syllables in each line. Avoid sentimentality. Rely on images, rhythm, and structure to convey your regret.
340. Shakespearean Sonnet
Start the mwaka off with one of Shakespeare’s inayopendelewa forms. Write a sonnet, a poem comprising fourteen lines that incorporates the following rhyme scheme: a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. (For example, the words at the end of the first and third lines rhyme, etc.) Before wewe begin, flip through any book and select seven words at random. Use these words, au variations of them, in the poem.
341. Make a List
Write a poem that is a orodha of people, places, and/or things that wewe long for.
342. Poetry Prompt - Write an Anaphora poem. An Anaphora is "the repetition of a word au expression several times within a clause au within a paragraph". In poetry the repetition of the phrase can be just at the beginning of each line, setting the tone as a meditation au a mantra, au it can be utilized zaidi subtlety within the poem. The poem can be free verse au prose style.
343. Poetry Prompt - Write a free verse poem using "sparrows".
344. Poetry Prompt - Write a series of maswali and majibu to tunga a poem.
345. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that describes a walk through a house from the perspective of a child.
346. Poetry Prompt - Write three different impressions of "saturation". (e.g.: color, sound, aroma, urban-ness, etc.)
347. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the prompt: "chain-link fence"
348. Poetry Prompt - Write a three part poem using "metronome".
349. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem concerning the "absence" of something. Consider the absence as a positive, au a negative.
350. Poetry Prompt - orodha ten items that wewe would buy at an auction, au tag sale. Write a poem including those items. wewe may chose to title your poem, "Things Found At An Auction". Variation, have someone else create a orodha for you.
351. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that starts with a one word title, two words in the first line, three in the next, and continues kwa adding one word per line. (Variation: use as a prose exercise.)
352. Poetry Prompt - "This and That"- Write a orodha of phrases such as "salt and pepper", "cats and dogs", "love and war". Write a poem with the first stanza about the first word and the sekunde stanza about the sekunde word.
353. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem based on the concept au idea of a "Mobeus strip".
354. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that begins with a description of an event, telling what appears to be happening. Then give a description of what is really occurring.
355. Poetry Prompt - As an exercise, write a solo "renga". (Not to argue the authenticity of a renga being written kwa two poets - not one) A renga is a Japanese poetic form similar to haiku, but a series of stanzas linked kwa an idea. Please visit these pages for a full, non-confrontational definition of renga:
link
link
356. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using, "paper and chalk".
357. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the following title: "Another Language", au "Translation".
358. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the following start: "What good is a day..."
359. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about the "ultimate" poem, au what a poem "should" do.
360. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem in the disguise of a postcard message. Continue kwa uandishi a reply postcard message.
361. Poetry Prompt - Create a poem using three trinkets. Such as, a shell, a silver charm, and a feather.
362. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the phrase "a foreign language".
363. Poetry Prompt - On a slip of paper write a orodha of 15 "free association" words. Use the 15 words in a poem. Variation: Create and exchange a orodha with another person. Then use their orodha of words to write a poem.
364. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using, "how to...". For example, "how to write a poem", "how to break my heart"," how to distinguish a maua, ua from a frog".
365. Poetry Prompt - Write three shaped-verse poems. Shaped-verse poems are a form of "pattern poetry", where the letters, words, and lines of the poem are arranged to form a picture/outline of the subject of the poem. An example is a poem in the shape of a krisimasi mti discussing your thoughts about krisimasi itself, family traditions, and so on.
366. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that repeats a selected word in each line. Consider using foreign translations of the word. (cat, gato, catze).
367. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem with a seasonal theme.
368. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about seasonings. For example, "Salt and Saffron".
369. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "Paradise of Strangers".
370. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using, " Between Silences".
371. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using "Writers Anonymous" as your title. (Or, "Hi My Name Is ")
372. Poetry Prompt - Transitory - Write a poem based on transitory things.
373. Poetry Prompt - Make a orodha of your inayopendelewa lines from poetry. Use these lines in a collage au create a pocket journal that has one line per page. Memorize them. (And then, optionally, for wewe Mark Strand fans, eat them.)
374. Poetry Prompt - Write a Tercet. Examples:
link
375. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about something that "spirals".
376. Poetry Prompt - Write a culinary poem celebrating food.
377. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that is representative of language/communication.
378. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about a very small object.
379. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem using picha of things that are connected, such as "paperclip(s)", au "trains".
380. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that is about the "un-truth".
381. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem about things that are transparent.
382. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that starts at the end, moving backwards.
383. Poetry Exercise - Write a villanelle, au a terzanelle.
A 19-line poem of fixed form consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain. (from link)
terzanelle
A terzanelle is a poetry form which is a combination of the villanelle and the terza rima. It is nineteen lines total, with five triplets and a concluding quatrain. The rhyme scheme is as follows: Ending Type 1:fAFA' (from link)
384. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem using the theme of, "x-ray", au seeing through layers.
385. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that focuses on sound.
386. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem about playing Jacks, Hopscotch, au another such game.
387. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem in three parts about three different people and their interaction with an item that is the same. The object can be passed between them, au it can be the "same" possession and not the "actual" object the other people have.
388. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that uses the style of a devotion and prayer.
389. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that is written in the style of magnetic poetry. For your word bank wewe can use one au two pages from a book, magazine au newspaper. wewe might want to make a photocopy of the pages and cut the words apart, au just transcribe them randomly to your word bank.
390. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that is based on a painting. (You can find many classic paintings here: link)
Example: Pieter Brueghel, The Fall of Icarus
link
link
391. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that refers to "Romeo and Juliet".
392. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "Lines of Conversation".
393. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "Love Poem Number 137".
394. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "You Need to Have a Plan".
395. Write a poem about how wewe assembled a puzzle au game from your childhood. Focus on the imagery, the pieces, intention and focus.
396. Write a upendo poem to your inayopendelewa book. Be sure to flip through the book, focusing on what wewe found was most meaningful.
397. Write a poem that incorporates both the view of the antagonist and protagonist in a fairy tale.
398. Ask your Marafiki to give wewe five bila mpangilio phrases. The phrases can be fragments au sentences, and should not reference sinema if possible. Write a poem that incorporates these five phrases.
399. Think of a course wewe have always wanted to take. Write a poem that focuses on why wewe find this class to be appealing au interesting. Again, this should not be a class wewe have taken yet. wewe want to write a poem that captures your raw level interest in the course.
400. Write a poem dedicated to the dreams wewe remember the least. These do not have to be dreams wewe wish to remember, but write to them regardless.
401. orodha the three most inconvenient things that happened to wewe today. Now write a poem about at least one of them.
402. Write a poem about your experience in some type of vehicle used for long distance such as a car, airplane au a train. Where were wewe going? Was it comfortable? Who did wewe meet au talk to? Did wewe forget anything au find something? Did wewe arrive at the right destination?
403. Find an unpublished poem that wewe haven’t looked at in years. Randomly choose three lines from the poem. Write a completely different using those lines.
404. Think of a product au a service wewe dislike. Imagine wewe have the opportunity to convince them to take that product au service off the market. Write a poem that incorporates your message about this product au service.
405. Take an image that wewe can recall from the prior week. Use this image to help wewe write a poem.
406. Think about something specific a loved one does for you. This can be anything from receiving back rubs from your partner au getting seasonal cards from your aunt. Write a poem that incorporates the feelings and picha associated with this event.
407. Pick your inayopendelewa tafuta engine. Perform a tafuta on any word wewe can think of. Choose a word that does not have particular importance to you. Read through the first two pages that come up in the tafuta engine. Pick two sentences and write a poem incorporating those sentences.
408. Think of at least three people from your hometown that wewe haven’t talked to in a long time. Write a poem that is aimed to address these people for the first time in years.
409. Think of the best independent restaurant wewe have eaten at recently. Write a poem about the flavors and sensations of the meal and drinks.
410. Think about a coworker au colleague wewe find distasteful. Write a poem about how this person saves your life.
411. Write a poem that admits a dark secret of yours.
412. Write a poem from the perspective of a creature that lives in a cave au in the deep sea.
413. Listen to a song wewe really enjoy. Focus on your most inayopendelewa part of the music. Write a poem about all the sensations, images, feelings, lyrics and other components of that specific part of the song.
414. Imagine yourself living 300 au zaidi years ago. wewe still have the same personality and body. Write a poem about yourself and your interactions and with the people of that time.
415. Write a poem about the frustration au stresses a pet must feel. Pets could include household pets, circus animals, zoo wanyama and so on.
416. Think about a political issue wewe strongly disagree with. Now write a poem where the aim is to and convince yourself to actually agree with that point.
417. Write a poem about what wewe expect the end of the world might be like.
418. Write a poem that introduces a book wewe dislike. wewe can even use a poem that wewe aren’t particularly happy with. Write a poem introducing that poem to readers.
419. Write a poem about what wewe would do if your ex-boyfriend au ex-girlfriend was transformed into a giant stone animal.
420. Write a poem about an animate and inanimate object falling in upendo with each other.
421. Picture a beautiful landscape. Write a poem about that landscape.
422. Take a look at a map. Randomly select a town au city wewe have never been to. Write a poem about what wewe think it might be like visiting that place for the first time.
423. Write a poem from the perspective of someone who is from another culture.
424. Take a topic wewe feel uncomfortable uandishi about. Write a poem about that topic.
425. Write a poem about a historical battle that really reverberates with you.
426. Look up some very rare flowers in at least two different countries. Write a poem that incorporates the features of these plants and their many parts.
427. Pick a topic in the computing sciences that wewe know absolutely nothing about. Do a quick tafuta on it, and spend at least 30 dakika trying to understand it from your perspective. Write a poem either about the experience au the topic.
428. Find one of your inayopendelewa recipes. Write a poem that utilizes some of the steps of that recipe.
429. Write a poem about the way a specific room changes throughout a year. Focus on the objects in the room, lighting, dirt au dust, stains, smells and all the other parts that make a room.
430. Write a poem about some aspect of the grieving au bereavement process. The loss, anger, loneliness, acceptance and moving on are all potential topics.
431. Write a poem about positive transformations One example might be the moment that someone wewe thought was unattractive au plain was suddenly beautiful.
432. Find a cause seeking donations in your community. Imagine this cause is having an auction to raise donations. Write a poem about that auction. Mention if wewe would bid and what wewe would bid.
433. Write a poem designed for the personals section in a newspaper au online listing. Try to incorporate the type of uandishi typically used in a personals section.
434. Write a poem about a piece of clothing wewe would ubunifu if wewe had the resources and poem.
435. Write a poem about the moment when wewe lose a necessary piece that is needed to make something electronic work. Some examples might include losing a charger for a computer au muziki player.
436. Write a poem in which wewe ultimately apologize to someone au something.
437. Try to remember some of the most memorable poetry readings wewe have attended. Write a poem saying thank wewe to those readings and the readers.
438. Check your local news for any new gallery exhibits in the area. Attend the exhibit and write a poem that discusses some elements of the exhibit.
439. Write a persona poem on someone that is very controversial. Consider uandishi a poem on a serial killer au a famous gang member.
440. Go outside and note at least three different cars on your street. Incorporate the make and model of the car, color and other features of the car into a poem.
441. Write a poem about cloning someone who is recently deceased. Think of various attributes of the ujumla, jumla cloning process such as personality differences, health problems, controversy, and the comparisons of the deceased to the new clone.
442. Write a poem from the perspective of someone who dislikes what wewe do professionally.
443. Write a poem about how wewe find happiness through something that actually makes wewe deeply unhappy.
444. Look at the last 10 poems wewe have written. Pay attention to the ending lines. Use one of those ending lines to begin a new poem.
445. Use the word Pattern in the first line and/or the last line of your poem.
446. Write a poem that begins with wewe waking up.
447. Write a poem that begins with a proclamation. If wewe need a phrase to get your juices going, try “I will”.
448. Write the final line to your poem first, and then write the poem to get to that ending. I am choosing to end my poem with “His hallucinations make him giggle” which others are welcome to use.
449. Pick three words that wewe absolutely upendo the sound of and set out to use them in your poem.
450. Use the same (or similar) words in both your first line and last line, but change the order au the meaning of the words from the first line to the last line.
451. Write a poem that involves an animal.
452. Write a orodha poem about things wewe have done in your life.
453. Use the word “secret” twice in your poem.
454. Use a letter count as a constraint for your poetry, either uandishi a brand new poem au rewriting an old poem to fit the new pattern. wewe can either count the spaces and punctuation between words as letters au count only the actual letters. Keep in mind that wewe don’t have to use the exact same number in every line, wewe can also develop at pattern such as 20-25-20-25.
455. Write au rewrite a greeting card poem so that is has meaning to you, au at least is funny.
456. A Ritual Poem takes a ritual (real au imagined) and brings a sense of meaning and reflection to the ritual it describes. Here are some steps to follow (a ritual poem ritual):
1. Pick an element of life that has au deserves a ritual
2. Decide the result wewe would want the ritual to produce
3. Think of the actions wewe would take to achieve the result
4. Turn the actions into steps au commands
457. Write a poem using Skeltonic Verse.
458. Write a poem about a specific but minor memory wewe have from zaidi than five, but less than ten years ago.
459. Write a Tanka. Feel free to write zaidi than one if wewe like.
460. Write a definition poem. A definition poem takes a word au a concept and attempts to define it, provide perspective, redefine it, au create a definitive example of it.
461. Write a poem that is set at au near where wewe live.
462. Write a poem in the form of a letter (epistle).
463. Write a poem that begins and ends with three single syllable words.
464. Write a poem that begins with a line of advice au instruction, such as don’t give up au take a left at the willow tree.
465. September 21st is the last siku of summer in the northern hemisphere and the last siku of winter in the southern hemisphere. With that in mind, write a poem in which the seasons play a role.
466. Write a poem in which a similar au identical phrase is repeated three au zaidi times throughout the poem.
467. Write a poem using iambic pentameter. If wewe aren’t familiar with Iambic pentameter, it is discussed in full here.
468. Write a poem that begins with the word “I”.
469. Write a poem as that uses every letter of the alphabet at least once.
470. Write a poem about a natural event.
471. Use one of the lists of words above au pick your own morpheme and use it to add adnomination to your poetry.
472. Pick two au three words from your last poem use them as the first three words of this poem.
473. Write a poem that gets shorter with each line.
474. Write a poem about the end of something.
475. Write a poem about something wewe believe.
476. Write a poem that includes at least one description of an object that is six au zaidi words long.
477. Write a poem that uses some sort of meter. If wewe want a challenge, attempt a meter wewe haven’t worked with before. For an extra added challenge, try to work in the word belly.
478. Write a Blues Sonnet:
1. Write 5 thematically similar heroic couplets of iambic pentameter.
2. In first four, repeat first line of each couplet, yielding the 14 lines of the sonnet.
3. Then, if desired, modify middle lines, of the stanzas without disturbing rhyme au rhythm to strengthen the stanza and give variety.
4. Get out a blues recording and have fun imba your blues song!
479. Write a poem about an event in your life that wewe have strong feelings about (it doesn’t have to be painful) without stating how wewe feel about the event. If wewe want an extra challenge, end every third line with the letter “R”.
480. Write a poetic parable. Feel free to play with the form. Sometimes it is zaidi interesting when the lesson is just a bit absurd.
481. Write about something in your life that wewe do every day. If wewe want an added challenge, make the first and the last lines the same au similar.
482. Write a blank verse poem. Blank verse has meter, but no rhyme. The typical meter for blank verse is iambic pentameter, but wewe can try other meters as well. If wewe want an added challenge, include the word “line”.
483. Write a Pantoum. Feel free to experiment with the form until wewe write something to your own liking. If wewe enjoyed this, try a sestina au villanelle.
484. Write a poem that tells a story. For an added challenge, use a word count. Write four stanzas, each with 30 words.
485. Write a poem as if it were an entry in someone’s journal au diary au even their Twitter account. If wewe want an added challenge, your stanzas to 145 characters so they mirror the limitations of texting.
486. Go outdoors and get some fresh air. Find a comfortable spot and write a poem. If wewe want to try a tanka (or a few) go for it.
487. Write a poem in ten minutes. It should have at least 100 words. For an added challenge, work in the word “speed”.
488. Create your own found poem. If wewe are looking for inspiration, use Google News to find an makala to your liking.
489. Write a poem that uses exactly the same number of characters on every line. wewe can pick the length, but once wewe start wewe have to stick to it. For an extra challenge, try uandishi about an event that has happened in the past 24 hour.
490. Write a poem that ends with the word “quiet”.
491. Either use a set of hyponyms as the structure for your poem au write a poem around the phrase, “He was blue, she was a rabbit.”
492. Write a poem that uses something other than traditional end rhyme.
493. Create a poem that uses one of the following word combinations (they don’t have to be in the same line):
1. boot, tune, fool
2. but, feet, knot
3. kit, tap, pock
4. seize, fourth, thighs
494. Write about something wewe can see from the window of your home.
495. Write a poem about a place wewe have been au a journey wewe have taken.
496. Call an old friend and write a poem after the conversation
497. Find an original way to describe a chair and make that the first line of your poem.
498. Write about the first time wewe did something.
499. Write a poem that demonstrates strong emotion without ever stating what that emotion is.
500. Write a poem about a contest, a win, au a loss.
501. Write a poem as if it were a letter to a friend.
502. Include the word right au rights in your poem.
503. Start your poem with a piece of advice.
504. Write a poem about your childhood. Explore an actual event that had some emotional significance to you. Avoid using any description of how wewe felt about the event then au how wewe feel about it now. Instead, try to make the emotion of the event come through in your descriptions of what happened. Feel free to post your poem in the maoni au on your own site with a link back to here. This will give other people the opportunity to read your poem.
505. Write about an event in your life that happened within the past week. Take some time to think about the week and look for event that has some emotional meaning for you, but not so much that it would be painful for wewe to write about. Sometimes smaller moments have zaidi meaning. Feel free to post your poem in the maoni au on your own site with a link back to here. This will give other people the opportunity to read your poem.
506. Find a news au opinion makala that was published on the web this week. I recommend using Google News because it can take wewe just about anywhere. Look for a story that has some emotional au philosophical impact on wewe and use that story as the basis for your poem. If wewe post your poem here, be sure to post a link to the original makala so we can see the inspiration!
507. Get out of the house and write in a new place. Write about the place wewe choose to go to. Don’t just rely on what wewe see. Describe the smells, the tastes and the sounds if wewe can. Try to give your readers a full picture of the place wewe choose.
508. Write a persona poem that incorporates one of the past two concepts. It should either address a social issue au it should provide a strong sense of place. One great way to do the latter is to write a poem in a public place, and to observe the people around wewe until wewe find someone interesting that wewe can imagine a back-story for.
509. Take at least five dakika to meditate in a quiet room free of outside influences before wewe write today’s poem. Try to clear your head of stray thoughts. Once wewe feel like wewe are clear and calm, write your poem. Let the topic be about whatever comes to mind after your meditation. If wewe have never meditated before, simply sit in a chair with your eyes closed and try to relax.
510. Write a orodha poem that uses a single line for each item on the list. Feel free to choose one of the topics above, au use anything else that comes to mind. As always, post the poem in the maoni section if wewe would like to share it.
511. Write an elegy about a person au event that is meaningful to you. wewe don’t necessarily have to approach the most tragic event in your life. Don’t try to take on an event that is still too difficult for wewe to deal with. Look for something that wewe can handle.
512. Write a poem using a specific meter. The meter can be of your own choosing au even your own making, as long as wewe put a pattern into place. As always, feel free to post your poem in the maoni section of this post.
513. Write a three au zaidi stanza poem that uses a metered style for the first two stanzas and a non-metered format for the remaining stanzas. As always, feel free to post your poem in the maoni section for others to see.
514. Read a poet wewe don’t like. Try to figure out what they do that upsets wewe and determine whether au not this assessment is fair. Try to think of ways that wewe would approach the same subject matter using your style. Write a poem that addresses some of the same subject / style / tone of the poet wewe dislike but do it in your own style.
515. Write a poem using syllabic verse. wewe can assign length ether kwa line au stanza. If wewe are stuck for a way to begin, start with this two-word ten-syllable line: Incompatible Participation
516. Read a poet wewe don’t like. Try to figure out what they do that upsets wewe and determine whether au not this assessment is fair. Try to think of ways that wewe would approach the same subject matter using your style. Write a poem that addresses some of the same subject / style / tone of the poet wewe dislike but do it in your own style.
517. Today is a two-part assignment. The first part is to think about your method of uandishi poetry. The sekunde part is to shake up your process. If wewe have a lot of structure, try loosening up. If wewe write very loosely, try adding some structure to the process. Find a new place to write au use a different tool. The change doesn’t have to be major, but if wewe post your poem, please tell us what wewe changed.
518. Write a poem that uses at least two different forms of repetition. Try to embrace at least one form of repetition that wewe don’t ordinarily use.
519. Write a poem that follows the three rules of the imagists.
1. Direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective au objective.
2. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
3. As regarding rhythm: to tunga in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the metronome.
520. Revisit a awali poem, perhaps one wewe especially liked au one wewe had trouble with, and write another poem following those same parameters.
521. Wikipedia’s bila mpangilio Button is a great and magical thing. Click it and write about whatever subject comes up.
522. Include the words “formal” and “casual” at some point in your poem.
523. Write a poem that has a variable line length rather than a set meter. Use either enjammed au endstopped lines.
524. Write a poem that begins with a negative image au statement and ends with a positive image au statement.
525. Write a three stanza poem that shows a progression with each stanza. The three stanzas should serve as a beginning, middle and end respectively. It might help to picture the poem as a three act play.
526. Try something that scares wewe (just a little) and then write a poem about it.
527. Write a poem that discusses a real moment in your life without discussing its larger meaning au attempting to lead the reader to a conclusion.
528. Include a verb in every line of your poem.
529. Write a poem that begins and ends with the same word.
530. Write the first draft of your poem in paragraph form and then change it into a free verse poem. Don’t be surprised if wewe have to change lines, words and phrases. That is a part of the process.
531. Look at some old photographs and write about a memory au a thought that they give you.
532. Write a poem that either uses no words longer than five letters au no words shorter than five letters.
533. Write the final line of your poem first, then figure out a way to get there.
534. I feel like ending with something technical but random. Don’t include any word with a single “A” in it, but do include at least one word with two “A”s in it.
535. Write a poem that takes place inside a vehicle (car, truck, train, plane, boat, etc.)
536. Write a poem in which wewe use three different words for the same au a similar color.
537. Write a poem that uses two au zaidi different settings / locations.
538. Write a poem that includes at least three different flavors and two odors.
539. Write a poem in which each line has six words and makes a statement au at least expresses a complete thought.
540. Write a poem in which every stanza either begins with a swali au ends with a question.
541. Write a poem in the form of a joke.
542. Write a poem that takes place at a public gathering such as a meeting, a carnival, a sporting event au a concert.
543. Write a poem about building au creating something kwa hand.
544. Write a poem that involves cutting, chopping au dividing something.
545. Write a poem about having to defend yourself au someone else.
546. Write a poem in which wewe discuss three things that wewe au your persona wants.
547. Write a poem that repeatedly uses numbers.
548. Write a poem that involves a plan.
549. Write a poem that take place at a specific time of the day.
550. Write a poem that involves consequences.
551. Write a poem that takes place in au otherwise involves a classroom.
552. Write a poem about waiting for a specific event.
553. Write a poem about getting Lost au losing something.
554. Write a poem about getting au sending a message (postcard, letter, phone call, email)
555. Write a poem that includes something that malfunctions au breaks down.
556. Write a poem about training for something au working towards a distant goal.
557. Write a poem about a person au a place that has several different names (it’s actually quite common).
558. Write a poem in which something gets opened au closed.
559. Write a poem in which something gets faked au simulated.
560. Write a poem about a rivalry.
561. Write a poem about a place that has changed considerably over time (construction, destruction, renovation, disrepair, etc.)
562. Write a poem that involves flirtation.
563. Write a poem that includes a path, a trail, au a map.
564. Write a poem that involves a long-term relationship (love, friendship, family, group, etc.)
1. Write a poem about one au all of the four seasons. (Some ideas for brainstorming: What does the season look, feel, smell like? What memories do wewe associate with that season?).
2. Write a poem using three of the following words: expensive, lampshade, bruise, convincing.
3. Write a poem about something that happened to someone wewe know. Write about it as if it had happened to you.
4. Write a poem about your shadow. (Some ideas for brainstorming: How does it change when wewe move? What does it look like in different kinds of light, in different situations? What would happen if wewe Lost it? Does it have a secret life?)
5. Write a poem using all of the following words: smooth, soothe, work, dark.
6. Write a poem based on a dream wewe had. Try to reproduce the sensations of the dream.
7. Write a poem based on your belief about life after death... au about what wewe WISH wewe believed.
8. Write a poem using all of the following words: snake, honey, thaw.
9. Write a poem from the perspective of a character in a fairy tale.
10. Write a poem using all of the following words: moth, angle, cloth, tangle.
11. Write a poem that tells the story of a specific upendo affair au marriage.
12. Write a poem in the form of a message au letter to your future self.
13. Write a poem about the color red au another color. (Some ideas for brainstorming: How does the color make wewe feel? What things do wewe associate with that color?)
14. Write a poem about a place that frightens wewe au a place where wewe feel happy. Try to recreate the feeling of the place.
15. Write a poem using all of the following words: exquisite, visit, glisten.
16. Write a poem about something au someone wewe lost.
17. Write a poem using all of the following words: dim, hinge, dingy.
18. Write a poem in the form of a lullaby.
19. Write a poem about yourself in which nothing is true.
20. Night-time
21. A particular color
22. Being underwater
23. A person whose life you're curious about
24. Your mother's perfume
25. Falling asleep au waking up
26. Growing older
27. The feeling of getting Lost in a book
28. How to know if you're in love
29. A bad dream
30. A ghost
31. Your city, town, au neighborhood
32. An important life choice you've made
33. Spring, summer, fall, au winter
34. Something most people see as ugly but which wewe see as beautiful
35. Jealousy
36. Becoming a parent
37. An event that changed you
38. A place wewe visited -- how wewe imagined it beforehand, and what it was actually like
39. The ocean
40. Forgetting
41. The speed of light
42. A voodoo doll
43. Reflections on a window
44. A newspaper headline
45. Your greatest fear
46. Your grandmother's hands
47. A particular toy wewe had as a child
48. Being invisible
49. A time wewe felt homesick
50. Having an affair, au discovering your partner is having one
51. Birthdays
52. A inayopendelewa chakula and a specific memory of eating it
53. An imaginary city
54. Driving with the radio on
55. Life in an aquarium
56. Dancing
57. Walking with your eyes closed
58. What a computer might daydream about
59. Time travel
60. Brothers au sisters
61. Your job, au a job you've had
62. Weddings
63. Leaving home
64. Camping
65. A zoo
66. A historical event from the perspective of someone who saw it firsthand (You will have to do some research for this).
67. Holding your breath
68. Intimacy and privacy
69. A time wewe were tempted to do something wewe feel is wrong
70. Physical attraction to someone
71. A superstition wewe have
72. Someone wewe admire
73. Write about the taste of: an egg, an orange, medicine, cinnamon
74. Write about the smell of: burning food, melting snow, the ocean, your grandparents' home, the inside of a bus, pavement after the rain
75. Write about the sound of: a radio changing channels, a dog howling, a football au baseball game, your parents talking in another room
76. Write about the sight of: lit windows in a house when you're standing outside at night, someone wewe upendo when he au she doesn't know you're watching, a dying plant, shadows on snow
77. Write about the feeling of: nyasi under bare feet, a really bad kiss, the headrush when wewe stand up too fast, sore muscles, falling asleep in the back kiti, kiti cha of a moving car.
78. a dessert, a memory, and someone in your family
79. dancing, a pitch-black room, and the smell of lilacs
80. a balloon, smoke, and a keyhole
81. a secret box, an ice cube tray, and a velvet ribbon
82. a betrayal, soap, and a plane ticket
83. Rain, snow, au a storm
84. An animal wewe think is beautiful au strange
85. Your parents au children
86. How a kiss feels
87. The house where wewe were born
88. A smell that brings back memories
89. Being a teenager, becoming an adult, middle age, old age
90. Feeling lonely
91. The moon
92. Getting lost
93. Marriage au divorce
94. An imaginary friend
95. Life in the future
96. The hottest, coldest, au most exhausted wewe have ever felt
97. Having a fever
98. A new version of a fairy-tale
99. The shapes wewe see in clouds
100. A letter
101. A recipe
102. A horoscope
103. A fragment from an unusual dictionary
104. A prayer
105. A shopping list
106. A magic spell.
107. One of your parents
108. Your child (real au imagined)
109. A historical figure (You will have to do research for this one.)
110. A very old person
111. An athlete who has just Lost the big game
112. The most popular/unpopular kid from your school
113. An inanimate object in your home.
114. Listen to a piece of muziki and write about the picha that it brings into your mind.
115. People-watch, eavesdrop, and write about your observations and imaginings.
116. Sit in a park and close your eyes. Notice all of the sounds and smells. Write about them afterward.
117. Keep a notebook inayofuata to your kitanda and write down your dreams at night to turn them into poems later.
118. Make a orodha of words wewe think are unusual, then try to use them in poems.
119. Watch an animal and write a poem about what it looks like and what it does.
120. Smell different spices in your jikoni and write about the memories that they inspire.
121. Look through old family photographs and choose some to write poems about.
122. Go on a "field trip" -- a museum, the zoo, a greenhouse -- to hunt for poetry ideas.
123. Get inspiration from vitabu on an area of science au history that interests you.
124. Three wishes
125. Traveling to an unknown place
126. Getting a haircut
127. A scientific fact (real au invented)
128. An insect that got into your home
129. The sound of a specific language
130. Death
131. The number 3
132. The ocean
133. Missing someone
134. Something that makes wewe angry
135. The feeling of writing, why wewe want to be a writer
136. The ups and downs of love
137. The view out your window
138. City lights at night
139. A particular work of art
140. Having a superpower
141. Being in an airplane
142. Playing a sport
143. A shadow
144. A person transformed into an animal
145. Daydream
146. Cry
147. Kiss well
148. Find happiness
149. Peel a peach
150. "Silky," "gigantic," and "puzzle."
151. "Leaf," "accelerating," and "sticky."
152. "Skin," "drastic," and "dusty."
153. "Interrupt," "nutmeg," and "crystalline."
154. "Exacting," "oxygen," and "delicate."
155. "Reptilian," "arched," and "honey."
156. First Kiss
157. Chained Angel
158. Empty Heart
159. Sirens Call
160. Bloodline
161. Soldiers Guilt
162. Mothers Guilt
163. Wilting Flower
164. Time Stopped
165. Hidden Away
166. Icy Tears
167. Dream Lover
168. Never Again
169. Slave Girl
170. Lost In a Dream
171. Tithe
172. Dream Catcher
173. Empty Coffin
174. Lost Days
175. The siku I Meet You
176. Angels Touch
177. Destiny’s Call
178. New Day
179. Black Rose
180. Say My Name
181. Stop My Heart
182. Midnight Hour
183. Don’t Leave
184. Love’s Spell
185. Old House
186. Shallow Grave
187. Broken Chair
188. Dancing Girl
189. Seductive Smile
190. Left Behind
191. Road kill
192. Great white hunter
193. Evil Smile
194. Angels Tears
195. The moon glowed as they danced…
196. Can wewe hear me call…?
197. The look in your eye makes me shiver in…
198. She was a thing of beauty and of light…
199. The moto is low and the curtains drawn…
200. Filled with sunshine and laughter…
201. The eagle let out a lonesome cry…
202. I burn for wewe in the darkness…
203. Draw me near and whisper gently…
204. Tell me it isn’t true…
205. The sign stood battered and worn
206. It breathed in the darkness inayofuata to me…
207. If the devil cried,
208. If the world ended tomorrow...
209. The eyes glowed in the darkness…
210. The waves rolled out across the sands…
211. The ghostly figure shimmered in the light…
212. The path winds forever forward…
213. Beware the charming smile in the night…
214. Lost in a dream…
215. The night was thick with romance…
216. Never parted
217. Stranger in the dark
218. Broken carriage
219. Forbidden meeting
220. upendo spell
221. Cursed
222. Tears of the vampire
223. A time to die
224. A dreams kiss
225. Midnight vow
226. Hunted
227. Broken sword
228. moyo of a killer
229. Living statue
230. Secret
231. Blood Slave
232. Painted glass
233. Hidden from sight
234. Shattered mirror
235. Forbidden meeting
236. Grandma
237. Job interview
238. Murdering heart
239. Secrets
240. Confusion
241. Blood tears
242. Liar
243. Reunion
244. Road kill
245. Blindness
246. Burning cross
247. Book
248. The wind
249. Poisoned flower
250. Wild
251. Mob
252. Innocent touch
253. Madness
254. Ancient
255. Beware
256. Blood pact
257. krisimasi ornament
258. Frozen
259. Broken promise
260. Telephone call
261. Road rage
262. Crossroads
263. Trapped
264. Witch’s familiar
265. Birth
266. Crying ghost
267. Garbage bin
268. Car accident
269. Floating body
270. Late to the party
271. Cursed town
272. False accusation
273. Death’s Visit
274. Woman scorned
275. Key
276. Grandma’s secret
277. Obsession
278. Devil’s tango
279. Broken dice
280. Miles to go
281. Overrun
282. Lost
283. Dead heart
284. Forbidden laughter
285. Old tree
286. Blue eyes
287. Vengeance
288. Dead bugs
289. Returning
290. Sound Off
Sounds are filled with meaning. Poets can use sounds not only to create wonderful and complex worlds through words, but also to create a rhythm and flow that gives life to the wind, the footsteps, and closing doors around us. Sit quietly somewhere with colorful and unique sounds: an art museum, a lonely riverbank, au a bustling subway station. Write a poem about the sounds wewe hear. Focus on the poetry and muziki of the sounds, and how the sounds put everything else—nature, life, and death—into context.
291. Disappointment
Poetry has very powerful redemptive and healing capacities. The mere process of uandishi and kusoma poetry forces us to connect with life on a meaningful, meditative level. Poetry requires a deliberate and calm contemplation that creates spaces for forgiveness, understanding, and self-awareness. Write a poem about a hivi karibuni disappointment in your life. Be honest about your feelings. The power of your poetry begins with your truths.
292. Focus on Family
Like snowflakes, every family is unique. From quirky aunts and greedy uncles to gracious moms and despicable cousins, every family is peculiar in some meaningful way. Write a poem about your family. Focus on the people who create the love, the pain, and the dynamics that define your family. Be honest. Be courageous. Be open.
293. Travel Poetry
It is estimated that 43.4 million Americans will travel fifty au zaidi miles this Thanksgiving weekend. Travel is so often inspiring because it mixes a sensory experience with the opportunity for a prolonged period of contemplation. Write a poem about a hivi karibuni trip wewe took. Carefully select your words to evoke the sights and sounds that accompanied the journey of your inner thoughts and feelings.
294. Changes
Our lives are constantly changing as we navigate what we can and can’t control. Every siku there is a new beginning and ending—in big and small ways. We fall in love. We lose an eyelash. Write a poem about how your life is changing. Be specific. Change is complex and emotional on any level because it reminds us of our humanity—and of our mortality. Get writing.
295. Lost and Found
We all lose things in life that are uniquely special to us: a wool scarf knitted kwa a beloved friend, a letter opener that belonged to a grandfather, a stuffed animal won for a daughter at a state fair. Life moves mbele and so do we. Time crowds old memories with new ones. We misplace the things we love. We lose them. Or, somehow, they just leave us. Write a poem about an object that has disappeared from your life. Use the power of memory and emotion to give it new life, rendering it no longer lost, but found.
296. Guest Poetry
The holiday season is here, which means wewe will soon be a guest at a work party, gathering of friends, au family-oriented celebration. This is the season for poets. Begin your “Thank You” poems now. Celebrate what companionship means to wewe and express your gratitude for the honor of being invited. Make your poems personal and sincere. (Consider attaching each poem to a nice bottle of wine and personally hand it to your host.)
297. Our Years of Fear
Halloween week is here. Write a poem about something wewe feared as a child. As adults we fear loneliness, intellectual and financial ruin, and—of course—death. However, children experience the world and their own humanity differently; yet, their fears are just as scary, valid, and profound. Begin the poem as an innocent child. End the poem as a mature adult.
298. Poetic Appreciation
Poetry is an act of appreciation. With our increasingly busy schedules, we lose our ability to appreciate. Poets must resist the modern temptation to overlook what holds meaning in our lives. Identify something in your surroundings—a rusted jembe, hoe draped in buibui webs, an unfashionable dress abandoned kwa time, a wine cork buried in a drawer of unpaid bills—and write a poem that appreciates these lonely items.
299. Relationships
Life is about relationships. As with everything in life, all relationships end for various reasons. Think about a relationship that wewe valued that has ended—a friend, a lover, a family member. Write a poem that encapsulates your sense of loss and appreciation and how this particular person impacted your life. The power of poetry transcends everything that ends.
300. Crash Poetry
Collisions spark creativity. Colors collide to form new colors. Opposing ideas create an inspired argument. Friction makes fire. Write a poem that combines two unrelated entities in your life: Imagine your birth certificate under a decaying woodpile, your mother-in-law clenching spark plugs, a bluebird imba in your freezer. Push your imagination. The words will follow.
301. Poetry for Humanity
The human race, kwa nature, is flawed. Deep within our DNA is the capacity for violence, hatred, and deceit. Choose an aspect of human nature that disturbs you. Write a poem describing this ugly and flawed characteristic of human nature. Write a sekunde poem about how we, the human race, can fix it.
302. Poetry Appreciation
Revisit one of your inayopendelewa poems kwa another poet. What appeals to wewe about this particular poem—the structure, the sound, the imagery, the subject matter? Write a poem dedicated to this poet and poem. onyesha your appreciation kwa instilling those same respected qualities in your own writing.
303. Train Changers
People come in and out of our lives like passengers on a train. Some stay for much of our journey. Others get on and off, quickly disappearing into their own travels. Write a poem about someone who became part of your life, but left the train. Who were they? Why do wewe miss them? What happened? Focus on tone, voice, and imagery.
304. Reaching Out
uandishi poetry can be a lonely endeavor. kusoma poetry, however, can introduce us to people and worlds we’ve never experienced. Use the power of poetry to help someone who is lonely. The woman resting her head on the steering wheel at a long red light. The old man with a soggy coaster at the end of the bar. The adolescent kid hiding in the school bathroom. Write a poem for them, from you.
305. Change of Words
The end of summer means the beginning of autumn. This is a time of change. Write a poem about the changes occurring in your life. Choose powerful verbs. Focus on the feelings of expectation, fear, and relief that come with change. Use vivid imagery. It is during change that we are often the most alive.
306. jikoni Table
The center of our families, our homes, and our most treasured conversations occur at the jikoni table. We discuss the vibrant color of sautéed asparagus, the deep laugh of a deceased grandfather, au sit quietly, alone, worrying about our children at 3am. Write a poem about your jikoni table, and the food, voices, and thoughts it has experienced over the years.
307. Window Words
Windows, like frames for picha and paintings, provide a context to the vast world around us. Sit kwa your inayopendelewa window and write a poem about life beyond the glass: diaphanous oak leaves spangled in sunlight, fatigued men hanging from a garbage truck, chirping songbirds flitting through summer rain, a hunched elderly woman who feels forgotten. Remember: This is your window as defined kwa your life. Give yourself thirty minutes.
308. chakula for Thought
Think of your inayopendelewa meal. Write a poem about the recipe, describing how each ingredient and every action contributes to the final whole. Evoke the five senses—from the sound of a whisk to the smell of paprika. Explore what this meal means to wewe and why. Write vibrantly, unless gruel is your thing.
309. Insecurity
uandishi poetry is an act of empowerment. Sit quietly at your desk. Think about what you’re most insecure about in life: being a good parent, making enough money, not being able to upendo fully. Write a poem about how wewe plan to overcome that insecurity.
310. Remembering the August Ahead
Time is what we call the brutal miracle that makes us grow old. Certain months of time remind us of falling in love, burying a loved one, au moving into a new house. This week, as we say goodbye to July, reflect on what August has meant to your life. Begin your poem with your childhood. Then describe how August has changed wewe and your perception of the world.
311. dakika to Explain
Poetry harnesses the power of metaphors and similes to reach a part of humanity that is inaccessible to all other forms of communication. Think about someone wewe love. Spend 15 dakika making a orodha of their notable attributes—both flattering and incriminating. Describe those attributes using simple metaphors and similes to explain the complex feelings this person evokes within you.
312. Your Other Life
Poetry, like life, is about making decisions. Write a poem to the person wewe may have become had wewe made an important life decision differently. Remember, this version of wewe is also vulnerable to the whims of an indifferent universe, so you’re merely making an educated guess as to your doppelgänger’s outcome. Craft your poem with respect. You’re uandishi to you.
313. Inch kwa Inch
Choose an inch of space anywhere around you: the sole of your hiking boot, the rusted headlight of an abandoned car, that weathered and broken thumb your grandfather used to pry open the back fence. Write about that inch. As poets we often become overwhelmed kwa the big picture. We seek to conquer love, injustice, and the meaning of meaning. Take a step back. Focus the scope of your poetry. uandishi about a single drop of rain can tell us the most about the sky above.
314. Life, friends, is boring
"For the poetry reader...there are certain emotions wewe are allowed to feel—sadness, love—but this is such a miserable choice of all the emotions one feels," writes Craig Raine in the English Review. "One feels anger, boredom, chilliness—quite strong emotions, but they don't get much of a run in poetry, and I think they should." Write a poem about anger au boredom au any other "nonpoetic" emotion. If wewe have trouble getting started, try using the first line of John Berryman's devastating "Dream Song 14": "Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so."
315. Flowers of Evil
On June 25, 1857, French poet Charles Baudelaire published his book Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), which led to his conviction on charges of blasphemy and obscenity. Here's a sample: "Huddled, teeming, like gut-worms kwa the million, a clutch of Demons make whoopee in our brain and, when we breath, Death floods our lungs, an invisible torrent, muffled in groans." Get good and dark: Read a bit from Flowers of Evil then write a short poem. Unleash the gut-worms!
316. How's the Weather?
"I know Midwesterners are accused of talking too much about the weather, but that criticism must surely come from people who don't have weather like ours," novelist David Rhodes once wrote to his editor at Milkweed Editions, Ben Barnhart. "These last few weeks have been filled with the bright, indolent humidity of summer, offset kwa sudden, tyrannical darkness and booming threats of Supernatural violence. Not mentioning such revolutionary experiences would be inhuman." Go Midwestern and write a poem about today's weather. And if you're interested, read "After the Flood: A profaili of David Rhodes," from the September/October 2008 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
317. Taming the Unruly
In a profaili of Natasha Trethewey in the September/October 2012 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, contributing editor Kevin Nance nukuu the poet laureate (who was elected to a sekunde term on Monday) about her use of poetic form. "I never set out to write in a particular form, but usually something in the early drafting process suggests to me the possibility of a form I might follow that might help take the poem in a better direction than I might have sent it without following that impulse,” Trethewey says. “I find that it helps me with poems that have seemed unruly for some reason—maybe the story is too big, au the emotion of it is overwhelming for me, and the form helps bring shape to it." Choose a poem that has been giving wewe trouble—an unruly poem of your own—and try to rewrite it as a sonnet, a villanelle, a pantoum, au another form. (Consult the Academy of American Poets website for help with poetic forms.)
318. Dark Rooms
In their introduction to My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer (Wesleyan chuo kikuu, chuo kikuu cha Press, 2008), Kevin Killian and Peter Gizzi write about Spicer's idea of the serial poem, "a book-length progression of short poems that function together as a single movement." Robin Blaser described the form as "a dark house, where wewe throw a light on in a room, then turn it off, and enter the inayofuata room, where wewe turn on a light, and so on." As Spicer's poetry "moves from dark room to dark room," Killian and Gizzi write, "each flash of illumination leaves an afterimage on the imagination, and the lines of the poem become artifacts of an ongoing engagement with larger forces." Read some of Jack Spicer's long poems, including The Holy Grail and Billy the Kid. Consider throwing a light on some rooms of your own.
319. May Swenson
In honor of the centennial anniversary of the birth of May Swenson, on May 28, read some poems kwa this award-winning poet (consult the Academy of American Poets website for a bibliography), then write a poem with her work in mind. Remember, this is a poet who, four months before her death on December 28, 1989, wrote, "The best poetry has its roots in the subconscious to a great degree. Youth, naivety, reliance on instinct zaidi than learning and method, a sense of freedom and play, even trust in randomness, is necessary to the making of a poem."
320. Overheard
Poetry is all around you. Find a public place—a train station, a park bench, a mitaani, mtaa corner, a coffee shop, a bookstore, the line at the Department of Motor Vehicles—and listen to the people around you. Choose one quote from a stranger and use it as the first and last line of a new poem.
321. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Print au write out a handful of unfinished poems you’ve had difficulty revising. Cut out each line and mix them up. Rearrange the lines to make a new poem. Consider using one of the lines as the title.
322. Achilles' Heel
Pick an iconic figure with a famous weak spot (Superman and kryptonite, Achilles and his heel, Samson and his hair, the Wicked Witch of the West and water). Write a letter from the ikoni to the weakness au from the weakness to the icon. Is it hate mail? A upendo poem? A blackmail note? Advice?
323. inayopendelewa Line
Choose a inayopendelewa au compelling line from another writer's poem, and write your own line with same number of stressed syllables and same vowel sounds. Use this line as the start of a new poem.
324. Write a Terza Rima
Write a Terza Rima, a poem of three-line stanzas in which the end-word of the sekunde line in the first tercet establishes the rhyme for the first and third lines in the following tercet and so on. The poem can have as many stanzas as you’d like, and the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc, ded, etc. continues through the final stanza.
325. A Poem for You
Write a poem of fourteen lines. Instead of using the first person (I), use only the sekunde person (you).
326. Turn It Over
Choose a word au phrase wewe find yourself saying often (e.g. like, totally, hate, really, kind of) and write a poem using it as much as possible, turning it over and over, repositioning it, extending it, playing with its uses and the parts of speech into which it can be shaped.
327. Just Say It
Choose a poem—a classic work au something you've newly discovered—and memorize it. As wewe do so, note the rhythms, sounds, and structure that help wewe remember it. To test your memory, and in honor of National Poetry Month, consider reciting it to a friend in person, leaving a recording of it on a friend's voicemail, au sending an audio file of it to one au zaidi Marafiki via e-mail.
328. Make a Collage
Make a collage inspired kwa a working draft of one of your poems, using picha from books, photographs, magazines, newspapers, and drawings. wewe may incorporate words as well. Let the transformation of your poem into another medium inform a revision of the poem on the page.
329. Record the Dailies
Collect phrases and words that wewe see throughout the siku today. Arrange them on the page, using line breaks where they seem to naturally fall. Next, above the lines you’ve recorded, write words and phrases that are somehow related to those on the page, such as synomyms, antonyms, au words that sound au look similar. Rewrite what you’ve recorded replacing the new words with the old. Use this as the first draft of a poem and continue revising it into a finished draft.
330. Look and Listen
Today there are fifteen lines of poetry that will present themselves to wewe in various ways. Some will be visual, some will be spoken. Look and listen carefully. Take the time to record them. Then refine them and use them to craft a poem.
331. Imaginary Friend
Write a poem in the form of a letter to an imaginary friend in which wewe ask them for help that begins, Dear Friend. Keeping the person au creature au entity you’re uandishi to in mind, include details and picha that reveal your imaginary friend’s characteristics as wewe craft your entreaty.
332. The Form It Takes
As poet Ted Kooser writes in The Poetry nyumbani Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets (University of Nebraska Press, 2005), “When it comes to the form your poem takes, wewe can determine it as wewe write....As wewe work on your poem, try to see what shape the poetry wants to assume.” Following Kooser’s advice, write a draft of a poem and analyze its structure. How many lines does it have? How many stanzas? How many stressed syllables per line? Look for a dominant pattern in what you’ve written and revise the poem to fit that pattern consistently.
333. Write a Villanelle
Choose two inayopendelewa lines from a working draft of a poem that needs revision. Write a villanelle, using those lines for the refrains. See the Academy of American Poets' website for zaidi about the villanelle form, a poem of nineteen lines made up of five stanzas with three lines each.
334. Text Me
Send a line of poetry to a friend via text message au e-mail and ask her to tunga a line in response. Collaborate on drafting a poem in this way, building it line kwa line until wewe both agree that it's reached its end. Using the final product as a draft, revise the poem and have your friend do the same. Compare your final drafts.
335. Clip Art
Using scissors, cut up one of your poems that needs revision into its lines au parts of lines. Rearrange these clippings in various combinations and create a new draft. Write a revision of your poem based on this new draft.
336. After Robert Frost
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of American poet Robert Frost. To honor this day, read Frost's poem "Stopping kwa Woods on a Snowy Evening" on the Academy of American Poets' website. Analyze the poem's structure, and write a poem with the same rhyme scheme and number of lines.
337. Playing With Definitions
Choose any word from the dictionary and read its definitions. Write a poem using only the language of these definitions. Try repeating them in different combinations and using line break to create unexpected phrases. Experiment with how far wewe can push the limits of the language you're working with. Use the word you've chosen as the title of the poem.
338. Powers of Observation
Look out your window au observe your surroundings and make a orodha of ten images. Choose the three that wewe find most compelling and freewrite about them, exploring any memories au associations they elicit. Put your freewriting exercise aside, and draft a poem that incorporates at least five of the picha from your list.
339. This Is Just to Say
Think about something that wewe did au alisema to someone that wewe regret. Write a poem of apology, comprising five four-line stanzas, with the same number of stressed syllables in each line. Avoid sentimentality. Rely on images, rhythm, and structure to convey your regret.
340. Shakespearean Sonnet
Start the mwaka off with one of Shakespeare’s inayopendelewa forms. Write a sonnet, a poem comprising fourteen lines that incorporates the following rhyme scheme: a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. (For example, the words at the end of the first and third lines rhyme, etc.) Before wewe begin, flip through any book and select seven words at random. Use these words, au variations of them, in the poem.
341. Make a List
Write a poem that is a orodha of people, places, and/or things that wewe long for.
342. Poetry Prompt - Write an Anaphora poem. An Anaphora is "the repetition of a word au expression several times within a clause au within a paragraph". In poetry the repetition of the phrase can be just at the beginning of each line, setting the tone as a meditation au a mantra, au it can be utilized zaidi subtlety within the poem. The poem can be free verse au prose style.
343. Poetry Prompt - Write a free verse poem using "sparrows".
344. Poetry Prompt - Write a series of maswali and majibu to tunga a poem.
345. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that describes a walk through a house from the perspective of a child.
346. Poetry Prompt - Write three different impressions of "saturation". (e.g.: color, sound, aroma, urban-ness, etc.)
347. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the prompt: "chain-link fence"
348. Poetry Prompt - Write a three part poem using "metronome".
349. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem concerning the "absence" of something. Consider the absence as a positive, au a negative.
350. Poetry Prompt - orodha ten items that wewe would buy at an auction, au tag sale. Write a poem including those items. wewe may chose to title your poem, "Things Found At An Auction". Variation, have someone else create a orodha for you.
351. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that starts with a one word title, two words in the first line, three in the next, and continues kwa adding one word per line. (Variation: use as a prose exercise.)
352. Poetry Prompt - "This and That"- Write a orodha of phrases such as "salt and pepper", "cats and dogs", "love and war". Write a poem with the first stanza about the first word and the sekunde stanza about the sekunde word.
353. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem based on the concept au idea of a "Mobeus strip".
354. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that begins with a description of an event, telling what appears to be happening. Then give a description of what is really occurring.
355. Poetry Prompt - As an exercise, write a solo "renga". (Not to argue the authenticity of a renga being written kwa two poets - not one) A renga is a Japanese poetic form similar to haiku, but a series of stanzas linked kwa an idea. Please visit these pages for a full, non-confrontational definition of renga:
link
link
356. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using, "paper and chalk".
357. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the following title: "Another Language", au "Translation".
358. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the following start: "What good is a day..."
359. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about the "ultimate" poem, au what a poem "should" do.
360. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem in the disguise of a postcard message. Continue kwa uandishi a reply postcard message.
361. Poetry Prompt - Create a poem using three trinkets. Such as, a shell, a silver charm, and a feather.
362. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the phrase "a foreign language".
363. Poetry Prompt - On a slip of paper write a orodha of 15 "free association" words. Use the 15 words in a poem. Variation: Create and exchange a orodha with another person. Then use their orodha of words to write a poem.
364. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using, "how to...". For example, "how to write a poem", "how to break my heart"," how to distinguish a maua, ua from a frog".
365. Poetry Prompt - Write three shaped-verse poems. Shaped-verse poems are a form of "pattern poetry", where the letters, words, and lines of the poem are arranged to form a picture/outline of the subject of the poem. An example is a poem in the shape of a krisimasi mti discussing your thoughts about krisimasi itself, family traditions, and so on.
366. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that repeats a selected word in each line. Consider using foreign translations of the word. (cat, gato, catze).
367. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem with a seasonal theme.
368. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about seasonings. For example, "Salt and Saffron".
369. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "Paradise of Strangers".
370. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using, " Between Silences".
371. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using "Writers Anonymous" as your title. (Or, "Hi My Name Is ")
372. Poetry Prompt - Transitory - Write a poem based on transitory things.
373. Poetry Prompt - Make a orodha of your inayopendelewa lines from poetry. Use these lines in a collage au create a pocket journal that has one line per page. Memorize them. (And then, optionally, for wewe Mark Strand fans, eat them.)
374. Poetry Prompt - Write a Tercet. Examples:
link
375. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about something that "spirals".
376. Poetry Prompt - Write a culinary poem celebrating food.
377. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that is representative of language/communication.
378. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about a very small object.
379. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem using picha of things that are connected, such as "paperclip(s)", au "trains".
380. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that is about the "un-truth".
381. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem about things that are transparent.
382. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that starts at the end, moving backwards.
383. Poetry Exercise - Write a villanelle, au a terzanelle.
A 19-line poem of fixed form consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain. (from link)
terzanelle
A terzanelle is a poetry form which is a combination of the villanelle and the terza rima. It is nineteen lines total, with five triplets and a concluding quatrain. The rhyme scheme is as follows: Ending Type 1:fAFA' (from link)
384. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem using the theme of, "x-ray", au seeing through layers.
385. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that focuses on sound.
386. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem about playing Jacks, Hopscotch, au another such game.
387. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem in three parts about three different people and their interaction with an item that is the same. The object can be passed between them, au it can be the "same" possession and not the "actual" object the other people have.
388. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that uses the style of a devotion and prayer.
389. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that is written in the style of magnetic poetry. For your word bank wewe can use one au two pages from a book, magazine au newspaper. wewe might want to make a photocopy of the pages and cut the words apart, au just transcribe them randomly to your word bank.
390. Poetry Exercise - Write a poem that is based on a painting. (You can find many classic paintings here: link)
Example: Pieter Brueghel, The Fall of Icarus
link
link
391. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem that refers to "Romeo and Juliet".
392. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "Lines of Conversation".
393. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "Love Poem Number 137".
394. Poetry Prompt - Write a poem using the title, "You Need to Have a Plan".
395. Write a poem about how wewe assembled a puzzle au game from your childhood. Focus on the imagery, the pieces, intention and focus.
396. Write a upendo poem to your inayopendelewa book. Be sure to flip through the book, focusing on what wewe found was most meaningful.
397. Write a poem that incorporates both the view of the antagonist and protagonist in a fairy tale.
398. Ask your Marafiki to give wewe five bila mpangilio phrases. The phrases can be fragments au sentences, and should not reference sinema if possible. Write a poem that incorporates these five phrases.
399. Think of a course wewe have always wanted to take. Write a poem that focuses on why wewe find this class to be appealing au interesting. Again, this should not be a class wewe have taken yet. wewe want to write a poem that captures your raw level interest in the course.
400. Write a poem dedicated to the dreams wewe remember the least. These do not have to be dreams wewe wish to remember, but write to them regardless.
401. orodha the three most inconvenient things that happened to wewe today. Now write a poem about at least one of them.
402. Write a poem about your experience in some type of vehicle used for long distance such as a car, airplane au a train. Where were wewe going? Was it comfortable? Who did wewe meet au talk to? Did wewe forget anything au find something? Did wewe arrive at the right destination?
403. Find an unpublished poem that wewe haven’t looked at in years. Randomly choose three lines from the poem. Write a completely different using those lines.
404. Think of a product au a service wewe dislike. Imagine wewe have the opportunity to convince them to take that product au service off the market. Write a poem that incorporates your message about this product au service.
405. Take an image that wewe can recall from the prior week. Use this image to help wewe write a poem.
406. Think about something specific a loved one does for you. This can be anything from receiving back rubs from your partner au getting seasonal cards from your aunt. Write a poem that incorporates the feelings and picha associated with this event.
407. Pick your inayopendelewa tafuta engine. Perform a tafuta on any word wewe can think of. Choose a word that does not have particular importance to you. Read through the first two pages that come up in the tafuta engine. Pick two sentences and write a poem incorporating those sentences.
408. Think of at least three people from your hometown that wewe haven’t talked to in a long time. Write a poem that is aimed to address these people for the first time in years.
409. Think of the best independent restaurant wewe have eaten at recently. Write a poem about the flavors and sensations of the meal and drinks.
410. Think about a coworker au colleague wewe find distasteful. Write a poem about how this person saves your life.
411. Write a poem that admits a dark secret of yours.
412. Write a poem from the perspective of a creature that lives in a cave au in the deep sea.
413. Listen to a song wewe really enjoy. Focus on your most inayopendelewa part of the music. Write a poem about all the sensations, images, feelings, lyrics and other components of that specific part of the song.
414. Imagine yourself living 300 au zaidi years ago. wewe still have the same personality and body. Write a poem about yourself and your interactions and with the people of that time.
415. Write a poem about the frustration au stresses a pet must feel. Pets could include household pets, circus animals, zoo wanyama and so on.
416. Think about a political issue wewe strongly disagree with. Now write a poem where the aim is to and convince yourself to actually agree with that point.
417. Write a poem about what wewe expect the end of the world might be like.
418. Write a poem that introduces a book wewe dislike. wewe can even use a poem that wewe aren’t particularly happy with. Write a poem introducing that poem to readers.
419. Write a poem about what wewe would do if your ex-boyfriend au ex-girlfriend was transformed into a giant stone animal.
420. Write a poem about an animate and inanimate object falling in upendo with each other.
421. Picture a beautiful landscape. Write a poem about that landscape.
422. Take a look at a map. Randomly select a town au city wewe have never been to. Write a poem about what wewe think it might be like visiting that place for the first time.
423. Write a poem from the perspective of someone who is from another culture.
424. Take a topic wewe feel uncomfortable uandishi about. Write a poem about that topic.
425. Write a poem about a historical battle that really reverberates with you.
426. Look up some very rare flowers in at least two different countries. Write a poem that incorporates the features of these plants and their many parts.
427. Pick a topic in the computing sciences that wewe know absolutely nothing about. Do a quick tafuta on it, and spend at least 30 dakika trying to understand it from your perspective. Write a poem either about the experience au the topic.
428. Find one of your inayopendelewa recipes. Write a poem that utilizes some of the steps of that recipe.
429. Write a poem about the way a specific room changes throughout a year. Focus on the objects in the room, lighting, dirt au dust, stains, smells and all the other parts that make a room.
430. Write a poem about some aspect of the grieving au bereavement process. The loss, anger, loneliness, acceptance and moving on are all potential topics.
431. Write a poem about positive transformations One example might be the moment that someone wewe thought was unattractive au plain was suddenly beautiful.
432. Find a cause seeking donations in your community. Imagine this cause is having an auction to raise donations. Write a poem about that auction. Mention if wewe would bid and what wewe would bid.
433. Write a poem designed for the personals section in a newspaper au online listing. Try to incorporate the type of uandishi typically used in a personals section.
434. Write a poem about a piece of clothing wewe would ubunifu if wewe had the resources and poem.
435. Write a poem about the moment when wewe lose a necessary piece that is needed to make something electronic work. Some examples might include losing a charger for a computer au muziki player.
436. Write a poem in which wewe ultimately apologize to someone au something.
437. Try to remember some of the most memorable poetry readings wewe have attended. Write a poem saying thank wewe to those readings and the readers.
438. Check your local news for any new gallery exhibits in the area. Attend the exhibit and write a poem that discusses some elements of the exhibit.
439. Write a persona poem on someone that is very controversial. Consider uandishi a poem on a serial killer au a famous gang member.
440. Go outside and note at least three different cars on your street. Incorporate the make and model of the car, color and other features of the car into a poem.
441. Write a poem about cloning someone who is recently deceased. Think of various attributes of the ujumla, jumla cloning process such as personality differences, health problems, controversy, and the comparisons of the deceased to the new clone.
442. Write a poem from the perspective of someone who dislikes what wewe do professionally.
443. Write a poem about how wewe find happiness through something that actually makes wewe deeply unhappy.
444. Look at the last 10 poems wewe have written. Pay attention to the ending lines. Use one of those ending lines to begin a new poem.
445. Use the word Pattern in the first line and/or the last line of your poem.
446. Write a poem that begins with wewe waking up.
447. Write a poem that begins with a proclamation. If wewe need a phrase to get your juices going, try “I will”.
448. Write the final line to your poem first, and then write the poem to get to that ending. I am choosing to end my poem with “His hallucinations make him giggle” which others are welcome to use.
449. Pick three words that wewe absolutely upendo the sound of and set out to use them in your poem.
450. Use the same (or similar) words in both your first line and last line, but change the order au the meaning of the words from the first line to the last line.
451. Write a poem that involves an animal.
452. Write a orodha poem about things wewe have done in your life.
453. Use the word “secret” twice in your poem.
454. Use a letter count as a constraint for your poetry, either uandishi a brand new poem au rewriting an old poem to fit the new pattern. wewe can either count the spaces and punctuation between words as letters au count only the actual letters. Keep in mind that wewe don’t have to use the exact same number in every line, wewe can also develop at pattern such as 20-25-20-25.
455. Write au rewrite a greeting card poem so that is has meaning to you, au at least is funny.
456. A Ritual Poem takes a ritual (real au imagined) and brings a sense of meaning and reflection to the ritual it describes. Here are some steps to follow (a ritual poem ritual):
1. Pick an element of life that has au deserves a ritual
2. Decide the result wewe would want the ritual to produce
3. Think of the actions wewe would take to achieve the result
4. Turn the actions into steps au commands
457. Write a poem using Skeltonic Verse.
458. Write a poem about a specific but minor memory wewe have from zaidi than five, but less than ten years ago.
459. Write a Tanka. Feel free to write zaidi than one if wewe like.
460. Write a definition poem. A definition poem takes a word au a concept and attempts to define it, provide perspective, redefine it, au create a definitive example of it.
461. Write a poem that is set at au near where wewe live.
462. Write a poem in the form of a letter (epistle).
463. Write a poem that begins and ends with three single syllable words.
464. Write a poem that begins with a line of advice au instruction, such as don’t give up au take a left at the willow tree.
465. September 21st is the last siku of summer in the northern hemisphere and the last siku of winter in the southern hemisphere. With that in mind, write a poem in which the seasons play a role.
466. Write a poem in which a similar au identical phrase is repeated three au zaidi times throughout the poem.
467. Write a poem using iambic pentameter. If wewe aren’t familiar with Iambic pentameter, it is discussed in full here.
468. Write a poem that begins with the word “I”.
469. Write a poem as that uses every letter of the alphabet at least once.
470. Write a poem about a natural event.
471. Use one of the lists of words above au pick your own morpheme and use it to add adnomination to your poetry.
472. Pick two au three words from your last poem use them as the first three words of this poem.
473. Write a poem that gets shorter with each line.
474. Write a poem about the end of something.
475. Write a poem about something wewe believe.
476. Write a poem that includes at least one description of an object that is six au zaidi words long.
477. Write a poem that uses some sort of meter. If wewe want a challenge, attempt a meter wewe haven’t worked with before. For an extra added challenge, try to work in the word belly.
478. Write a Blues Sonnet:
1. Write 5 thematically similar heroic couplets of iambic pentameter.
2. In first four, repeat first line of each couplet, yielding the 14 lines of the sonnet.
3. Then, if desired, modify middle lines, of the stanzas without disturbing rhyme au rhythm to strengthen the stanza and give variety.
4. Get out a blues recording and have fun imba your blues song!
479. Write a poem about an event in your life that wewe have strong feelings about (it doesn’t have to be painful) without stating how wewe feel about the event. If wewe want an extra challenge, end every third line with the letter “R”.
480. Write a poetic parable. Feel free to play with the form. Sometimes it is zaidi interesting when the lesson is just a bit absurd.
481. Write about something in your life that wewe do every day. If wewe want an added challenge, make the first and the last lines the same au similar.
482. Write a blank verse poem. Blank verse has meter, but no rhyme. The typical meter for blank verse is iambic pentameter, but wewe can try other meters as well. If wewe want an added challenge, include the word “line”.
483. Write a Pantoum. Feel free to experiment with the form until wewe write something to your own liking. If wewe enjoyed this, try a sestina au villanelle.
484. Write a poem that tells a story. For an added challenge, use a word count. Write four stanzas, each with 30 words.
485. Write a poem as if it were an entry in someone’s journal au diary au even their Twitter account. If wewe want an added challenge, your stanzas to 145 characters so they mirror the limitations of texting.
486. Go outdoors and get some fresh air. Find a comfortable spot and write a poem. If wewe want to try a tanka (or a few) go for it.
487. Write a poem in ten minutes. It should have at least 100 words. For an added challenge, work in the word “speed”.
488. Create your own found poem. If wewe are looking for inspiration, use Google News to find an makala to your liking.
489. Write a poem that uses exactly the same number of characters on every line. wewe can pick the length, but once wewe start wewe have to stick to it. For an extra challenge, try uandishi about an event that has happened in the past 24 hour.
490. Write a poem that ends with the word “quiet”.
491. Either use a set of hyponyms as the structure for your poem au write a poem around the phrase, “He was blue, she was a rabbit.”
492. Write a poem that uses something other than traditional end rhyme.
493. Create a poem that uses one of the following word combinations (they don’t have to be in the same line):
1. boot, tune, fool
2. but, feet, knot
3. kit, tap, pock
4. seize, fourth, thighs
494. Write about something wewe can see from the window of your home.
495. Write a poem about a place wewe have been au a journey wewe have taken.
496. Call an old friend and write a poem after the conversation
497. Find an original way to describe a chair and make that the first line of your poem.
498. Write about the first time wewe did something.
499. Write a poem that demonstrates strong emotion without ever stating what that emotion is.
500. Write a poem about a contest, a win, au a loss.
501. Write a poem as if it were a letter to a friend.
502. Include the word right au rights in your poem.
503. Start your poem with a piece of advice.
504. Write a poem about your childhood. Explore an actual event that had some emotional significance to you. Avoid using any description of how wewe felt about the event then au how wewe feel about it now. Instead, try to make the emotion of the event come through in your descriptions of what happened. Feel free to post your poem in the maoni au on your own site with a link back to here. This will give other people the opportunity to read your poem.
505. Write about an event in your life that happened within the past week. Take some time to think about the week and look for event that has some emotional meaning for you, but not so much that it would be painful for wewe to write about. Sometimes smaller moments have zaidi meaning. Feel free to post your poem in the maoni au on your own site with a link back to here. This will give other people the opportunity to read your poem.
506. Find a news au opinion makala that was published on the web this week. I recommend using Google News because it can take wewe just about anywhere. Look for a story that has some emotional au philosophical impact on wewe and use that story as the basis for your poem. If wewe post your poem here, be sure to post a link to the original makala so we can see the inspiration!
507. Get out of the house and write in a new place. Write about the place wewe choose to go to. Don’t just rely on what wewe see. Describe the smells, the tastes and the sounds if wewe can. Try to give your readers a full picture of the place wewe choose.
508. Write a persona poem that incorporates one of the past two concepts. It should either address a social issue au it should provide a strong sense of place. One great way to do the latter is to write a poem in a public place, and to observe the people around wewe until wewe find someone interesting that wewe can imagine a back-story for.
509. Take at least five dakika to meditate in a quiet room free of outside influences before wewe write today’s poem. Try to clear your head of stray thoughts. Once wewe feel like wewe are clear and calm, write your poem. Let the topic be about whatever comes to mind after your meditation. If wewe have never meditated before, simply sit in a chair with your eyes closed and try to relax.
510. Write a orodha poem that uses a single line for each item on the list. Feel free to choose one of the topics above, au use anything else that comes to mind. As always, post the poem in the maoni section if wewe would like to share it.
511. Write an elegy about a person au event that is meaningful to you. wewe don’t necessarily have to approach the most tragic event in your life. Don’t try to take on an event that is still too difficult for wewe to deal with. Look for something that wewe can handle.
512. Write a poem using a specific meter. The meter can be of your own choosing au even your own making, as long as wewe put a pattern into place. As always, feel free to post your poem in the maoni section of this post.
513. Write a three au zaidi stanza poem that uses a metered style for the first two stanzas and a non-metered format for the remaining stanzas. As always, feel free to post your poem in the maoni section for others to see.
514. Read a poet wewe don’t like. Try to figure out what they do that upsets wewe and determine whether au not this assessment is fair. Try to think of ways that wewe would approach the same subject matter using your style. Write a poem that addresses some of the same subject / style / tone of the poet wewe dislike but do it in your own style.
515. Write a poem using syllabic verse. wewe can assign length ether kwa line au stanza. If wewe are stuck for a way to begin, start with this two-word ten-syllable line: Incompatible Participation
516. Read a poet wewe don’t like. Try to figure out what they do that upsets wewe and determine whether au not this assessment is fair. Try to think of ways that wewe would approach the same subject matter using your style. Write a poem that addresses some of the same subject / style / tone of the poet wewe dislike but do it in your own style.
517. Today is a two-part assignment. The first part is to think about your method of uandishi poetry. The sekunde part is to shake up your process. If wewe have a lot of structure, try loosening up. If wewe write very loosely, try adding some structure to the process. Find a new place to write au use a different tool. The change doesn’t have to be major, but if wewe post your poem, please tell us what wewe changed.
518. Write a poem that uses at least two different forms of repetition. Try to embrace at least one form of repetition that wewe don’t ordinarily use.
519. Write a poem that follows the three rules of the imagists.
1. Direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective au objective.
2. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
3. As regarding rhythm: to tunga in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the metronome.
520. Revisit a awali poem, perhaps one wewe especially liked au one wewe had trouble with, and write another poem following those same parameters.
521. Wikipedia’s bila mpangilio Button is a great and magical thing. Click it and write about whatever subject comes up.
522. Include the words “formal” and “casual” at some point in your poem.
523. Write a poem that has a variable line length rather than a set meter. Use either enjammed au endstopped lines.
524. Write a poem that begins with a negative image au statement and ends with a positive image au statement.
525. Write a three stanza poem that shows a progression with each stanza. The three stanzas should serve as a beginning, middle and end respectively. It might help to picture the poem as a three act play.
526. Try something that scares wewe (just a little) and then write a poem about it.
527. Write a poem that discusses a real moment in your life without discussing its larger meaning au attempting to lead the reader to a conclusion.
528. Include a verb in every line of your poem.
529. Write a poem that begins and ends with the same word.
530. Write the first draft of your poem in paragraph form and then change it into a free verse poem. Don’t be surprised if wewe have to change lines, words and phrases. That is a part of the process.
531. Look at some old photographs and write about a memory au a thought that they give you.
532. Write a poem that either uses no words longer than five letters au no words shorter than five letters.
533. Write the final line of your poem first, then figure out a way to get there.
534. I feel like ending with something technical but random. Don’t include any word with a single “A” in it, but do include at least one word with two “A”s in it.
535. Write a poem that takes place inside a vehicle (car, truck, train, plane, boat, etc.)
536. Write a poem in which wewe use three different words for the same au a similar color.
537. Write a poem that uses two au zaidi different settings / locations.
538. Write a poem that includes at least three different flavors and two odors.
539. Write a poem in which each line has six words and makes a statement au at least expresses a complete thought.
540. Write a poem in which every stanza either begins with a swali au ends with a question.
541. Write a poem in the form of a joke.
542. Write a poem that takes place at a public gathering such as a meeting, a carnival, a sporting event au a concert.
543. Write a poem about building au creating something kwa hand.
544. Write a poem that involves cutting, chopping au dividing something.
545. Write a poem about having to defend yourself au someone else.
546. Write a poem in which wewe discuss three things that wewe au your persona wants.
547. Write a poem that repeatedly uses numbers.
548. Write a poem that involves a plan.
549. Write a poem that take place at a specific time of the day.
550. Write a poem that involves consequences.
551. Write a poem that takes place in au otherwise involves a classroom.
552. Write a poem about waiting for a specific event.
553. Write a poem about getting Lost au losing something.
554. Write a poem about getting au sending a message (postcard, letter, phone call, email)
555. Write a poem that includes something that malfunctions au breaks down.
556. Write a poem about training for something au working towards a distant goal.
557. Write a poem about a person au a place that has several different names (it’s actually quite common).
558. Write a poem in which something gets opened au closed.
559. Write a poem in which something gets faked au simulated.
560. Write a poem about a rivalry.
561. Write a poem about a place that has changed considerably over time (construction, destruction, renovation, disrepair, etc.)
562. Write a poem that involves flirtation.
563. Write a poem that includes a path, a trail, au a map.
564. Write a poem that involves a long-term relationship (love, friendship, family, group, etc.)