2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 19
For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, poets write a poem a day in the month of November. Day 19 is to write a six words poem.
For today's prompt, I actually solicited ideas from people on Facebook. My query was simple: "Do you have a favorite word (or a couple faves)? Share below." In fact, this is separate of the poetry prompt, but please feel encouraged to share some of your favorite words below. A few of mine included chifforobe, pantaloon, and plethora. But back to the actual prompt...
For today’s poetry prompt, use at least three of the following six words in your poem (or use all six for extra credit):
- Bubble
- Dandelion
- Gibberish
- Gnarled
- Roiling
- Squint
Thank you to the following Facebook folks for the recommended words: Tracie Neill (bubble); De Jackson (dandelion); Brandy Lynn (gibberish); Michelle Krause Hed (gnarled); Lauren Dixon (roiling); and Jane Shlensky (squint)
Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them.
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Writer's Digest is celebrating our 20th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards with new categories and prizes. We’re looking for your best poems of 32 lines or fewer or un-published chapbooks 25 pages or fewer. Any form of poetry is eligible including epic, free verse, odes, pantoums, sonnets, villanelles, and even haiku. This is the only Writer’s Digest competition exclusively for poets. Win cash and an article about you in the July/August issue of Writer’s Digest.
(Note: This is completely separate of the November PAD Chapbook Challenge.)
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Here’s my attempt at a Six Words Poem:
“Nostalgia”
Beside the now deserted kiosk
in the abandoned mall, we found
the fountain water roiling and
some moldy miasma meandering
like some forgotten food court
creation catering to the ghosts
of hangouts past and if we were
to squint perhaps we would see
oval teens haunting the second
floor railing like composed and
combobulated consumers of yore
or instead some humdrum bums
could bubble up to the surface
long enough to spout gibberish
and wave their gnarled hands
in the emporium of forgotten
dreams donning dandelion
necklaces with the euphoria
of a poet swept up in the
blunderbuss of a dulcified
stream of unconsciousness,
conscious only of what once was.
(Note on my poem today: I did use the six words mentioned above, but I also used several other words recommended by my Facebook friends and followers and faint connections. Thanks again for all the words to consider!)
