Each week, we'll post a new prompt here and you can respond with poems you've written based on these prompts. It could be a focus on form/structure, perhaps a theme or even a specific subject matter.
Some prompts might include a poem as recommended reading, an image, a song, a news story, or a random thought that one of us had while hanging out here in The Poetry Cove.
Whatever form these prompts take, the idea is to spark your creativity and remember: there's no right or wrong way to respond to a prompt. If we suggest writing about rain and you write about the sun, we still want to read your poems š
Brave
When George was little, our favourite game
was aeroplane or rocket ship or a flying machine
I havenāt invented yet. It was easy
to pick him up when I was still strong
when he was still small. I launched him into the air
as his mother watched from between her fingers
but I caught him every time. He laughed in the silly way
only four year olds can while gravity ignored him.
Tiny wings unfurled from his tiny shoulders
and his Batman t shirt turned into a cape.
He was so much braver than me.
Heās four and a half now and so big,
still so much braver than me.
Heās stronger, no longer needs me to lift him.
He climbs on all the furniture
and opens all the doors Iām scared to.
Gravity still ignores him,
so many rockets to launch,
so many planes to fly.
Well here I go Rachael
2020
Oh what a year 2020 was.
People looking out there windows and no one to be seen.
The heart ach of families far and near
People wondering all over the world are we ever going to be normal again.
Families lifting there love one's up with positive words. People giving and sharing what little they have trying to lift each other up to a better place.
2020 has shown what is important and what we take for granted.
OK this is a good one can mean so many thing. Will try later to write one
Prompt Number 2 (06/03/2021) - We Lift Each Other Up
First of all, happy week-aversay Poetry Covers! (Did I just accidentally coin a collective noun for us?)
Second of all, yes, the tagline is cheesy but it's also very true. If you're new here, The Poetry Cove prides itself on supporting one another.
So what does this have to do with a prompt? I want you to think about the word 'lift'. Think about the different meanings and word associations. When I asked my best friend what he thought of when I said the word 'lift', he said 'elevator'.
So maybe write a poem about an elevator! All jokes aside, there are so many avenues: weight, arms, wings. The sky's the limit!
And, as always, if you end up writing about a car instead, you can still post it here! I can't wait to see what you all come up with :)
In the small hours
When the world slows down
The ready souls goes silent
Drifting off to their next dimension
A journey comes to a partial end
The clear dark sky creates a masterpiece
The gallery of moments is open
I stand in awe for the brightness
Staying awake a little longer
In the silence I hear the sounds
You breathing next to me
I know you too are awake
In the early hours we don't speak
We honour the travelling souls
Watch another star go
Here's my attempt. I decided to go with a line from the prompt poem. Not my best but I gave it a good go :)
Countdown to Morning
It takes only five minutes
For midnight to become a well
The walls around me stretch long into nothing
Endlessly I slip through the hands of time
Sleep is the coin that never reaches the bottom.
I read somewhere that it's only four light years
Between us and the closest star.
I begin to count sheep backwards
Retrace my steps to see where I lost myself
Looking for something I'll never reach.
If only I had three wishes
A healing oasis for these wicked sands,
A tender forgiveness from my hollow reflection,
And to leave this dream alive - the night and I
Have grown old together too many times.
These two coal planets for eyes
Still stoking the fires in my mind
I eclipse myself first sign of light
Whilst my silver moon grows tiresome
She knows I'll be back tomorrow.
Back to square one.
Thank you Rachel. Not really a poet. But I dabble a bit.
In The Wee Hour's
As I lay here in my bed, in the wee hours of the morning.
The moon shining through a gap in the curtains onto the wall
casting shadow's of the trees outside.
I listen in the silence, what can I hear.
The rustling of the nocturnal creatures looking for food.
In the distance a fox's call for its partner.
The clock by my bedside ticking and seems to be getting louder
with every tick.
Oh how I wish I could just close my eyes and drift off to sleep
but my brain is having none of it.
Roll on day break when all my nightly thoughts fade away
into
a new
day.
Prompt Number 1 (27/02/2021) - The Small Hours
Read The Small Hours by Vona Groarke
The poem is dense and rich with descriptions and visual imagery. In fact, it's not until the end of the poem when the reader realises that the speaker has been in bed all along. Groarke uses a zoom effect in this poem, pulling us out of the story about the joyrider to discuss attributes of the speaker.
There are so many things you can take from this piece to explore in your own poems:
- Try mimicking the zoom effect. Start with one story, explore a new idea, and bring the reader back
- Think about what keeps you up at night. What ways do you try to fall back to sleep? What do you hear when you're trying to fall asleep?
- Of course, you can just take the title or a specific line as a prompt and see where it takes you!
I can't wait to see what you come up with!
So excited for this! I love getting inspired to write poetry from all kinds of things!
Can we create new poems for the prompts?