MoSt NYWC poetry prompts

MoSt New Year’s writing challenge poetry prompts 1-20 Below are extremely annotated versions of the writing prompts. Go to the Modesto-Stanislas webpage to get the full instructions and sample poems. Otherwise you can sign up here.

1.For your first poem write a haiku series about patience and/or anticipation.

2. Gravity: Wave or Particle? Write a poem in response to Westheimer’s poem OR write about gravity, waves, particles, the moon, the earth, is your “orbs and orbits,” or “some / strong force not subject to the laws of physics.”

3. Viva Magenta. Write a poem in which you free-associate the feelings you get in seeing what some might call a brilliant crimson and others might call a deep purplish red,

4. Write a poem about sound and/or hearing, listing favorite/least favorite sounds; which ones soothe, inspire, transform your intentions, creep you out? What’s the modern equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard?

5. Write a poem about musicians’ artistry—or a painter, sculptor, photographer, dancer, poet—and its effect on those who experience it. “Portrait of the Artist as a __________” or include artist’s nickname or a technical term: fortissimo, chiaroscuro, golden hour, or Juggalo. include the virtuosity, action, improvisation, consequence and the effect on an audience.

6. Write a poem containing one or more of these options: a response to Bernstein’s poem, a narrative structure, Lift “golden” words, phrases, lines…

7. Write a poem that deals with absence, what’s missing, and even loss if your poem takes you there. Perhaps your lines will have large gaps between words or phrases. A missing poem.

8. write a poem about elements in your own life and/or the lives of others . a night that light exited your home, leaving you with a few candle stumps and no matches; a time when your voice…, the flowers that didn’t wilt, a friend, or family member expected intolerance, but were genuinely welcomed…

9. Write a poem about little lights or a little light——even if it is at the end of a tunnel. Perhaps this light is a memory of past candles, lamps, points of light presently scattered on a tree or a sky different than the one at home.

10. Write a poem about snow a feature of snow, wonder…

11. Write a poem about when you gave or were given a gift that was unexpected. Describe not only the gift itself (and maybe its backstory) but the response when and after this gift was received/opened/unwrapped/revealed/and maybe dropped.

12. The flamenco is a Spanish quintain (or 5-line stanza) form with a staccato rhythm meant to replicate the click of heels by flamenco dancers. The flamenca goes by a few other names, including seguidilla gitana(or Gypsy seguidilla), playera, and/or sequiriya. “Here are basic guidelines of the flamenca:5 lines
lines 1, 2, 4, and 5 have 6 syllables
line 3 has 5 syllables
lines 2 and 5 assonate [or rhyme.]”
13. Write a poem about rest, resting, or napping

14. Write a poem that involves time—past, present, and/or future. If possible, use one of the phrases above—or one/some of your own—that we use to pigeonhole time as if we understood how it works.

15. Write a poem about rock and roll.

16. Write a poem about the ways in which poetry has healed or sustained you. It could be an ars poetica, a thankful response to or conversation with a poem or poet; include the name of the poem or poet. It could be a poem designed to heal readers, or heal the world!

17. Write a poem involving New Year’s Eve, or the endings and beginnings of something more general.

18. Write a poem of hope and/or expectation, either about 2023, or about what you’d really really really like to happen.

19. Write a poem about anger. Include as many of these elements as may serve your poem: personal history/experience. Show what forms anger takes.

20. Write a poem about airliners, airports, airspace, or air itself. Friendship.