Write a poem that modernizes a classical myth. Rewrite the old myth in modern terms. For instance, Sisyphus is doomed to push a car up a hill forever. You may make yourself the classical figure if you like. (From The Mind’s Eye by Kevin Clark) Don’t forget: Poetry Society of Michigan is looking for poems that have turned out well from these prompts for a reading. Send to mme642@aol.com.
Here’s a clever example from the pages of Third Wednesday Magazine. (by permission from the editors).
From Writing Poetry by Barbara Drake: Write a poem that teaches the history of your family to those who come after you.
Ekphrastic poetry: sounds complicated. It’s not. Ekphrastic art pays homage to another art form. In the case of poetry, we write a poem, taking our inspiration from a work of art. Use a painting or a photograph.
Below is an example from The Ekphrastic Review by one of our PSM members.
From The Practice of Poetry. Write a poem in which the name of a color is frequently repeated throughout the course of the poem. Consider symbolic associations (blue=sadness) as well as personal associations. (green=the phosphorescent algae on our little lake). Get the color into the title of the poem.
From the Schakal/Ridl book of yesterday:
Look at some poems by Rita Dove, specifically ones were she writes about her family. Using the history of your family, write a poem depicting one or more of the people you learned about.
From The Writers’ Idea Book by Jack Heffron:
Find a religious or philosophical quotation that makes a statement about the human condition. Consider looking in the Bible, a book of quotations, the Koran or a book of philosophy. Use that statement as the first sentence in a piece of writing or an an epigraph. In the piece, refute or demonstrate the efficacy of the statement.
When you were a kid, you believed things that may not have been quite accurate. I thought I could see atoms when they were actually dust motes, but never mind that! Take something inaccurate you used to believe and go with it.
This is another fun prompt. Write a poem using a recipe as your guide. I could give you a bunch of advice, but It is possible to stir loathing into a batter of glitter and regret. Bake at 485 for six years.
From Writing Poetry by Barbara Drake: Write a poem in terms of the smallest parts of a thing or entity. For example, the eye of a rabbit or lizard, a leaf bud on an apple tree; the battery in your electric watch. (I’m pretty bored by the last one.
Do you have any recurrent dreams? Write a poem in which you explore the dream in a nonrational way, meaning, don’t explain it. Be in it. Go with it. No doubt there is a message in it for you. Imply it.
