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.
From The Practice of Creative Writing by Heather Sellers: Write a poem that is a list of questions. make sure each is surprising, fresh and unexpected. (Is this asking too much?) Try to include images in as many of the questions as you can. Try to steer toward questions that are in front of us every day, but that few notice or take the time to articulate. If you’re around small kids, put some of their questions in there. (I once said something to my oldest daughter, who replied, “I can’t know that yet.” And I was, like, great answer!).
From The Practice of Poetry. Write a poem in which some major change (in style or content) occurs across a stanza break. The poem should not explicate or comment on the change; it should rather absorb or reflect it. This may seem mumbo jumbo-y, but once you get going, it will make sense.
From Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem by Wendy Bishop: You might try a praise song of a natural environment that praises a single element, like Gerard Manley Hopkins does when he praises spotted and dappled and freckled things. You might praise elements of flying things or aquatic things. You might praise the foods (and in doing so the culture) of your youth to explore what you felt then and what you know now.
Today’s poem is waiting to be discovered in your junk drawer. I know you have one. Or in the closet you’re afraid to open. Find it in there.
Poetry Society of Michigan 