2019 April PAD Challenge: Day 5
We’re about to wrap up our first work week of this challenge. Yay! But that reminds me that weekends are often a time when poets fall out of the challenge….
We're about to wrap up our first work week of this challenge. Yay! But that reminds me that weekends are often a time when poets fall out of the challenge. I challenge you to continue poeming through the weekend. You can do it!
For today’s prompt, write a stolen poem. And no, don't steal anyone's poem! But you can write about doing such a thing. Or stealing hearts, stealing time, stealing minds. Or steeling your mind (remember: I don't care if you play on my original prompt). Steal away into a comfortable place to write and break some lines today.
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Poem Your Days Away!
Online poetry prompts are great! But where can you get your poem fix when you unplug? The answer is the Smash Poetry Journal, by Robert Lee Brewer.
This book collects 125 poetry prompts from the Poetic Asides blog, gives poets plenty of room to write poems, and a lot of other great poetic information. Perfectly sized to carry in a backpack or purse, you can jot down ideas for poems as you’re waiting in line for a morning coffee or take it to the park for a breezy afternoon writing session (or on a bus, at a laundromat, or about anywhere else you can imagine–except under water, unless you’re in a submarine or a giant breathable plastic bubble).
Anyway, it’s great for prompting poems, and you should order a copy today. (Maybe order an extra one as a gift for a friend.)
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Here’s my attempt at a Stolen Poem:
“quicksand of the heart”
As a child, I grew up worried
I would accidentally wander
into quicksand. It seemed
such a prevalent problem
in movies and on TV shows.
A person is walking along
and then boom! They're up
to their necks in quicksand.
In the same way, I worried
over my heart. In songs, people
were constantly stealing them
or having them stolen. What if
I fell asleep and woke up
without mine? In dreams, I'd
walk through a maze and find
myself sinking in quicksand.
A voice calls out, "I'll throw
you the rope if you toss
me your heart."
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He probably listened to too many love songs and watched too many movies as a kid. Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
