November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 2

Okay, we’ve made it through the first day. We’ve got our first poems and our themes established. Now, let’s get to the second prompt, which is to write a declaration…

Okay, we've made it through the first day. We've got our first poems and our themes established. Now, let's get to the second prompt, which is to write a declaration poem: that is, a poem that makes a statement about your theme. A good way to attack this poem may be to write it in the voice of an imagined person or a real person who is not yourself.

For instance, if your theme is food poems, you could write a poem in the voice of Rachel Ray, who makes a declaration about the importance of food. Or if your theme is dysfunctional families, write a poem in the voice of Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil. Or, well, you get the idea.

(And remember, if you're not feeling a particular prompt, don't be afraid to steer yourself in a different direction. After all, our main goal is to have 30 poems at the end of the month.)

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Abraham Van Helsing"

Let me tell you of monsters:
Monsters is monsters, and they
will always be monsters. And
people is people, and they
can be monsters, sometimes as
terrifying as vampyres,
but people have a conscience.
People, when they are monsters,
can feel regret. Not so with
Dracula, not with a cold-
blooded vampyre. He will suck
his victim's blood, and even
turn his victim into a
soulless bloodsucker like him-
self. Monsters is monsters, and
they will always be. People
can be monsters, but they are
always people; they always
have room to learn from mistakes.

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.