Comments on: Poetry Prompts for Spring

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:43:30 +0000

I love poetry that deals with nature and mythology. This is excellent! Nice job Colin.

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:36:11 +0000

I was sitting, staring at a blank page today and googled “poem prompts” which led me here. I am quite grateful to have found this site; I think I will be using the prompts often. Here’s one from the ‘Blue-Gray Skies’ list:

Cleansing

The Slate in the skies is telling;
those flat dull clouds hold
more thunder than a thousand horses,
more lightning than Zeus himself.

I stand outside, parched and praying,
staring at the blue-steel sky; waiting
for the first drops to fall–
to rinse this foul and languid sloth
from my core,

To cleanse myself in a sudden deluge.

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:00:52 +0000

That’s pretty good for working in a real hurry! I especially like the phrasings “grey tired” and “black shiny.”

By: Greg Cameron

Greg Cameron — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:39:18 +0000

I’m writing under time pressure here – I’m working with the prompts “Mud and Muck.”

Last Laugh

the sky is grey tired

the crows can’t be bothered

trees droop in mourning

your boots are black shiny

your woolly sweater is nice and clean

you scoop up some pebbles

throw them at a stop sign

you laugh and laugh

only to stop

when some bully grabs you in

a chokehold

forces you to the ground

how you like that huh?

come on!

you squeak gasp

as he rubs your face

in the mud

back and forth

why don’t you cry like a little girl?

can’t fight can yuh?

as he leaves

it appears he will enjoy

the last laugh

and clouds pass on

in silence

(Greg Cameron, Surrey, B.C., Canada, Poem, December, 2009 – working in a real hurry here – hope you like it some….”

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:34:07 +0000

Very nice Greg. You’ve created a real scene, and I can imagine the poem in vivid images as I read it. You’ve also got sensual triggers, like smell. Awesome! Keep writing!

By: Greg Cameron

Greg Cameron — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:11:32 +0000

this is a poem I got out of “Blue-Grey Skies” -

Under Blue-Grey Skies

it is telling you rinse your hair

where the horses drink

their excrement is not foul

you never pick the pieces

from your boots

you love the smell

lustily drink it in

the clump of their hooves

is as conversation to you

you pet a head hung low

stroke the long muzzle

pat the sides

an apple offered disappears

and when you mount

and the whole world seems

clasped between your legs

you ride off under blue-grey skies

feeling a freedom

Life will gradually

choke out of you….

(Greg Cameron, Poem, Surrey, B.C., Canada, Oct., 2009
incidentally, Greg, over the years, keeps falling hopelessly, and I mean hopelessly, in love with ‘horse’ girls – go figure. Hope I got everything here….)

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:04:45 +0000

Hi Cath, One way to get good at poetry is to write it Another way is to read it. In any case, poetry is great for building your writing and language skills. Yes, I think that in many cases, we know the correct homophones but typos do happen.

By: Cath Lawson

Cath Lawson — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:51:13 +0000

Hi Melissa – I suck at poetry. I may have a go but I doubt whether I’ll post my effort on here – it would be too embarrassing.

I don’t struggle with to and too but I make a lot of typos where I accidentally leave a “o” off.

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:34:38 +0000

Well, not if you don’t want to

By: --Deb

--Deb — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:56:38 +0000

You don't seriously want me to write poetry, do you?? --Debs last blog post..Irony

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:09:12 +0000

Well, I am not aware of any such rules unless you are writing a particular type of poem – a haiku or a sonnet, for example. Poetry is pretty much open to your creativity. You don’t have to rhyme. You don’t have to use proper grammar (check out e.e. cummings). You can write it in prose instead of in lines. Poetry is a lawless land.

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:05:30 +0000

Shel and Dr. Suess are among my favorite poets. In fact, I get irritated when people treat children’s literature and poetry as less important, because it’s extremely important! I personally need to make more time for reading poetry – I do it, but not nearly enough – and I think it’s essential for a writer because there’s truly no better way to absorb the creative side of language. Some songwriters put out music and lyrics that I consider to be sheer poetry. Stevie Nicks comes to mind. You know, you can listen to poetry when you’re driving or doing other things. Check out a podcast (iTunes) called “Poem of the Day.” It’s one short poem per day – usually about one minute long. Surely, you can squeeze that into your schedule?