Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 685
During the month of February, I’ll be posting the Wednesday Poetry Prompts just a little bit later in the morning to make room for Moriah Richard’s annual February Flash Fiction Challenge, which I’ve personally been participating in as well. If you’re interested in dipping your toes in the fictional waters, find daily prompts here.
For this week’s prompt, write a story poem. While poems are great for capturing the beauty of nature and expressing deep emotions, they’re also storytelling powerhouses. From Homer’s epic Odyssey to Frank O’Hara’s “Why I Am Not a Painter,” poems can have a beginning, middle, and end just as much as anything written in prose.
Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them.
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Write a poem every single day of the year with Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming. After sharing more than a thousand prompts and prompting thousands of poems for more than a decade, Brewer picked 365 of his favorite poetry prompts here.
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Here’s my attempt at a Story Poem:
“The Married Couple,” by Robert Lee Brewer
They arrive quietly enough,
take a seat in the waiting room,
and then pull out their phones before
she says, “I think you should check in.”
“I told you,” he says, “I checked in
already.” “OK,” she says, “but
they probably don’t know you’re here
even if you did it online.”
They wait patiently as people
get called back who were already
there and as new patients arrive.
Eventually, she says, “I think
you’d better check in.” “But I did
already,” he says, “online. I
told you, Dear.” “I heard you, Honey, but
that last person got here after
your appointment.” He shifts a bit
before standing up and says, “Fine.
I’ll check.” She waits for him to turn
his back before smugly smiling
and then her face goes blank as he
stomps back and says, “They didn’t know
I was here.” “Oh, really,” she says.
Moments later, they’re both called back.