Marilyn Letts

Na/GloPoWriMo prompt: “In her poem, “The Apple Tree in Blossom,” Melissa Kwasny strings together several fantastical metaphors for the apple tree, before shifting into exclamations, definitions, and a series of nimble, tonal shifts – and seeming changes in topic – before circling around back to the apple tree. Today’s challenge asks you to write your own poem in which you use at least three metaphors for a single thing, include an exclamation, ruminate on the definition of a

NaPo/GloWriMo prompt: “In her poem, “The Flying Nightdress,” Mandakranta Sen describes something fantastical and strange that occurs while the rest of the world is asleep. The imagery of the poem is dreamlike, but the situation it describes is otherwise presented quite straightforwardly. Today, we challenge you to write your own poem that takes place at night, and describes something magical or strange that happens but that no one is awake (or around) to notice.” Somehow, I t

NaPo/GloWriMo prompt: “And speaking of forms, today’s (optional) prompt takes its inspiration from Kiki Petrosino’s loose villanelle, “Nursery.” Try your hand today at your own take on a villanelle, and have the poem end on a question.”   Today I had time/energy for another 5-7-5 syllable poem. A little off prompt.   Villan-elle?   The story given portrays you as the villain. Reframe your picture.   I’ve been reading about “high control” religions and this poem popped out.

NaPoWriMo prompt: “Jaswinder Bolina’s poem “Mood Ring” imagines the speaker as both himself and an interior being (who happens to take the form of a small donkey). It’s quite silly . . . and not silly at the same time. A sort of “serious fun.” Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own poem in which the speaker is in dialogue with him or herself.” I adore the poem Mood Ring and the idea of the prompt, so I look forward to returning to them in the future. I woke up th

NaPoWriMo prompt: “In her poem, “ Names and Nicknames ,” Monika Kumar reminisces over various nicknames she has been given, the actual name her mother gave her, and the way both names and nicknames indicate a claim and an intimacy at once. In your poem for today, we challenge you to write your own poem in which you muse on your name and nicknames you’ve been given or, if you like, the name and nicknames for an animal, plant, or place. For example, I’ve always been amused at

NaPoWriMo prompt: “ For today, try writing your own poem that uses an animal that shows up in myths and legends as a metaphor for some aspect of a contemporary person’s life. Include one spoken phrase.”   Today I had a big idea and small time. Oops, guess I selectively didn’t read the myths/legends part, but this is the metaphor and person that occurred to me. I’m hoping this is a poem-start which I can expand in the future.     Dexterous   She stretches downward from her squ

NaPoWriMo prompt: “And now for today’s (optional) prompt. The word florilegium refers to a book of botanical illustrations of decorative plants and also a collection of excerpts from other writings.  In her poem, “Florilegium,” Canadian poet Sylvia Legris gathers together many five-lined stanzas that describe flowers but also play with the sounds of their names, their medical (or poisonous) qualities, and historical aspects of herbalism. Today, pick a flower or two (or a whol

NaPoWriMo prompt “ Today, we don’t challenge you to write all of a long, dramatic, narrative poem, but we invite you to try your hand at writing a poem that could be a section or piece of one. Include rhyme, include unlikely and dramatic scenes (maybe a poem about a bank robbery! Or an avalanche! Or Roman gladiators! Or an enormous ball held by mermaids, where there is an undercurrent (hee) of palace intrigue!) Basically, a poem with the plot of an opera (evil twins! Egyptia

NaPoWriMo prompt:   “For today’s challenge, write a poem in which you respond to a favorite poem by another poet.”   Today I had a little more time for poeming and decided to respond to Rant   by Diane di Prima. I am, of course, unworthy, but I tried.   Unimaginable   When Diane di Prima performed her Rant in Knox United Church I had no idea she was an incendiary device.   ...w/out imagination there is no memory w/out imagination there is no sensation w/out imagination

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt: “In “ Ocean ,” Robinson Jeffers delivers an almost oracular, scriptural description of the sea not just as a geographical phenomenon, but a sort of being – old, wise, profound, and able to teach those who want to learn. Today, try writing a poem in which you describe something that cannot speak, and what it has taught or told you.”   Here’s the last three lines of Ocean  by Robinson Jeffers   …To be faithful in storm, patient of fools, tolerant of  

NaPoWriMo prompt: “ And now for our prompt (optional, as always).  K. Siva Reddy’s poem, “ A Love Song Between Two Generations ,” weaves together repetitions, questions, and unexpected similes with plain language. The overall effect is both intimate and emotional, producing a long-form meditation on what love is, what it means, and how it acts.  Today, we’d like you to write your own poem that muses on love but isn’t a traditional love poem in the sense of expressing love be

NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today, we challenge you to write a poem that similarly bridges (whether smoothly or not) the seeming divide between poetry and technological advances.” Once again, thanks for the prompt! I look forward to revisiting some of the ideas this brought up. Here’s the start of one: Smart or Magic? When your doorbell records a video, how does it know before its rung? Imagine the technology on the balls of its feet. Alert. Ready. Lighting up when someone approache

NaPoWriMo prompt: “ Try your hand today at writing your own poem about a remembered, cherished landscape. It could be your grandmother’s backyard, your schoolyard basketball court, or a tiny strip of woods near the railroad tracks. At some point in the poem, include language or phrasing that would be unusual in normal, spoken speech – like a rhyme, or syntax that feels old-fashioned or high-toned.” No time for original content today. Instead, I edited an old poem that has a l

NaPoWriMo prompt: “ Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own poem that recounts a memory of a beloved relative, and something they did that echoes through your thoughts today.”   The difficulty with this prompt is to try to give a flavour of my uncle in one poem. This is not worthy, but it’s a first draft.   Understated Style   Uncle Alec always wears a smile, and if a formal occasion, a bow tie.   If I ask how he is, he deftly turns the conversation, head tilted

NaPoWriMo prompt: “ Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own erasure/blackout poem. You could use a page from a favorite book, a magazine, what have you. It can be especially fun to play with a book you don’t know, particularly one that deals with an unfamiliar topic. If you’d like to go that route, maybe you’ll find something of interest in the thousands of scanned books  at the Internet Archive? Feel free to maintain the whitespace of the original text (as is tr

NaPoWriMo prompt for today: “ In his poem, “Goodbye,” Geoffrey Brock describes grief in three short stanzas, the second of which is entirely made up of a rhetorical dialogue. Today, write your own meditation on grief. Try using Brock’s form as the “container” for your poem: a few short stanzas, with a middle section in which a question is repeated with different answers given.”   Wrestling with grief didn’t feel like something I wanted to do today, but apparently my inner cr

NaPoWriMo prompt for today:   “Marianne Moore was a well-known modernist poet, with a curious taste in hats. Though she wrote on many themes, I’ve always had some affection for her many poems about – or in the voice of – animals, such as “The Fish,” “Dock Rats,” “The Pangolin,” and “No Swan so Fine.” Today, try writing your own poem in the voice of an animal or plant, or a poem that describes a specific animal or plant with references to historical events or scientific facts

NaPoWriMo prompt for the day: “ In his poem, “Poet, No Thanks,” Jean D’Amérique repeats the phrase “I wasn’t a poet” multiple times, while describing other things that he instead claims to have been. In your poem for today, use a simple phrase repeatedly, and then make statements that invert or contradict that phrase.” This poem started out epic (the whole aquarium). The constraint of time reigned me in to only one salamander. One of the things I love about NaPoWriMo is the

Thanks to NaPoWriMo “ here’s today’s prompt — optional, as always. In her poem, “Front Yard Rhyme,” Cecily Parks evokes the sing-songy beats that accompany girls’ clapping games, and jump-rope and skipping rhymes. Today, we challenge you to write your own poem that emulates these songs – something to snap, clap, and jump around to. ” I could keep this up all day. Might expand this in the future, but for today, here’s what I’ve got. And if you want to see the other 100 specie

NaPoWriMo prompt: " This one takes its inspiration from Yentl van Stokkum’s poem, “It’s the Warmest Summer on Record Babe,” which blends casual, almost blasé phrasing with surreal events like getting advice from a bumblebee. In your poem today, try writing with a breezy, conversational tone, while including at least one thing that could only happen in a dream." Late to the poetry world today, but lots of fun fulfilling the prompt. Some conversations are like this, honest. Cu