Here we are at the end of April. Today is the last day of this National Poetry Month challenge. I hope you have enjoyed these prompts and had as much fun writing poems as I had creating them.
I will keep it simple today. Write a good-bye poem with an optimistic outlook.
Just a reminder about submissions. The summer issue will feature sonnets. Check out the submission guidelines, consider submitting, and spread the word.
As usual, you can post your poem here if you like. You will need a password. Write to theliterarynest@gmail.com if you need the password.
Eavan Boland is one of the foremost female poet voices in Irish literature. Sadly, she passed away on April 27, 2020. I love her poetry because she speaks in an urgent voice to express the female experience. There are many other reasons to admire her poetry, and you can find out more about her by just googling. As a small tribute to her, I am quoting her poem Quarantine written circa 2008. It is a fitting commentary for the current times.
Quarantine
— Eavan Boland (1944-2020)
In the worst hour of the worst season
of the worst year of a whole people
a man set out from the workhouse with his wife.
He was walking—they were both walking—north.
(Read the rest on Academy of American Poets)
Write a poem inspired by something in this poem. It doesn’t have to be about the pandemic. There is so much more you can discover about relationships and humanity in the poem. Find your groove and write.
As usual, you can post your poem here if you like. You will need a password. Write to theliterarynest@gmail.com if you need the password.
Hello poets and readers, I hope you can stand one more prompt about the shelter-in-place situation. I came across the following poem while doing research about sonnets. This poem by William Wordsworth shines the light on a paradoxical truth. Sometimes, constraints can be liberating. We put the real constraints on our mind, and somehow external constraints can set the mind free.
Nuns Fret Not
by William Wordsworth (1807)
Nuns fret not at their convents’ narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,
High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth the prison, into which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me,
In sundry moods, ‘twas pastime to be bound
Within the Sonnet’s scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be)
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,
should find brief solace there, as I have found.
See if you can write a poem in any poetic form of your choice.
As usual, you can post your poem here if you like. You will need a password. Write to theliterarynest@gmail.com if you need the password.
Folks, the time has quickly passed, and the countdown to May has begun. Most of us are still sheltering-in-place. Are you dreaming of your next vacation? Of course, the entire world isn’t going to open overnight. It will be perhaps a year or two before things return to pre-2020 normal. But just imagine, if you were free to go anywhere, where would you go? Is your dream destination a tropical island, a safari, climbing mountains, camping, or perhaps glamping in the wilderness? Write a poem about a vacation you are looking forward to.
As usual, you can post your poem here if you like. You will need a password. Write to theliterarynest@gmail.com if you need the password.
Apparently, many people are reporting the increase in the number of dreams they are having during this pandemic. Not only are they experiencing more dreams, but dreams are also becoming more vivid. As for me, I always have vivid dreams, so this phenomenon piqued my curiosity. I found several news articles where experts are weighing in. Here is one of them.
Also, from Today Website:
Weekend TODAY’s Peter Alexander recounts a weird dream he recently had. Then, Harvard dream researcher Deirdre Barrett explains why some people, like Peter, are having vivid dreams during the global coronavirus pandemic. She says some reasons may include sleep deprivation and waking up naturally after a dream period.
So, here’s the prompt for you. Have you had any unusual dreams lately? Either use your own dream or use one from looking up other people’s dream reports, and write a poem about it.
As usual, you can post your poem here if you like. You will need a password. Write to theliterarynest@gmail.com if you need the password.
The Literary Nest 