/r/POETRYPrompts
Much like /r/writingprompts, but for poem responses only. Rhyming not required, nor is there a min/max length.
WELCOME! We are a subreddit dedicated to inspiring people to write Poetry! Find a prompt that moves you and reply with a Poem, or submit a prompt yourself.
Rules and Guidelines:
Post Tag Definitions:
[PP] - Poetry Prompt
This is the most basic prompt. No restrictions - the prompter merely puts out a few things for you to be inspired by. What you create is up to you. This can include prompts that are just a word or phrase, but please expound on your idea in the body of your post.
[CW] - Constrained Writing
This is when a limitation (or forced usage) of a word, letter, etc. is put on the writer. This is also for specific poem types such as Sonnets or Haiku. You should, however, give the prompt more direction than just the constraint.
[EU] - Established Universe
For prompts that are based on existing fiction (AKA: Fan Fiction. eg: Harry Potter, Breaking Bad, Etc.)
[PM] - Prompt Me
When you want multiple things to write about, people respond with random prompts; you respond to them in the same thread. In order to post a PM thread, you must have responded to at least one prompt in the past. Only post these if you intend on responding to a few within six hours of posting, otherwise it will be removed.
[MP] - Media Prompt
The prompter gives a piece of media (audio or video) that inspires writing.
[IP] - Image Prompt
The prompter submits a striking image (or album of images) and the writers respond with whatever the image(s) inspired them to write.
[OT] - Off Topic
Not a Poetry prompt but /r/POETRYPrompts related? Use this.
Helpful Links
Reddit Comment Formatting
* Credit to /u/Raerth
List of Poetry Forms
* Credit to thepoetsgarret.com
Other Credits:
* Rules and Guidelines based off of /r/WritingPrompts
* Snoo created by /u/ArrightNowFellas
* Logo & Style Sheet created by /u/SurvivorType
/r/POETRYPrompts
Happy National #dogsday šš¶š¾ daily #funsnapfact #Like #subscribe or #follow to see #dailyfunsnapfacts We post a different #fact #everyday Feed your brain with #knowledgeispower #dogslife #dogphotography #dogsofinstagram #doglover #doggo #doggycare
Use patch as your muse and create a poem to celebrate man's best friend.
A dogs day
It's his smile that gets me through, I wonder if he no's what his smile can do, He gives so much so willingly, without question without doubt, so freely and then he asks for so little in return Unlike the greed of our mere humanity His unconditional love for me Is unquestionably undeniable to see He can see through my mask so easily The brave face this warriors worn daily And he simply smiles and it slips away But he's right next to me and will stay Then everything doesn't seem so awful As you look at that goofy smile so loveable It's ok if the tears begin to fall, He will catch them all as they trickle Cuddles aren't in short supply neither No matter how many you require either And when you're feeling better He'll take you for a stroll through nature, Smiling tongue hanging tail wagging he's been a good boy so he'll get a treat Because hes just saved me again from defeat He simply smiles back at me as I'm thinking it through I wonder if he truly knows how his smile saves me constantly on the daily to
B r i g h t e r D a y s A h e a d | 9
A Prayer
Father, help to know that You hold me in your hands.
When the circumstances donāt change, and I canāt comprehend
Help me to believe that all I do is win with You.
When my plans donāt fall through, thatās when Your work begins.
Help me to see that You are working things out for my good.
Even when I feel lost, and deception puts me in bad mood
Help me to hear, listen and trust Your voice
So, I can escape the surrounding noise.
Help me to remember your grace and faithfulness
Because, Lord, You remain the same even to the faithless.
Help me to walk in Your truth and always seek Your wisdom,
Because, in this world full of darkness, I want to live in Your freedom.
I have a prompt to give I am a Michelin starred chef looking to find ways to be more unique with my menu development and a thought was to have my tasting menus and coursed dinners to be written in the form of a poem but I am no poet the theme of this dinner is a stroll/ walk through the woods if someone can write a poem with this theme while somehow putting a descriptor or two in each section to hint at what the course would contain I would be forever grateful if this is against the rules please let me know I am new here!
āYou wonāt tell people what you fear any of this says about youā
Write a 13-line poem wherein each line is only 13 words long, and the only rhyming words appear in numerical sequence in each line.
In other words: the first word of the first line rhymes with the second word of the second line, which rhymes with the third word of the third line, and so on until the 13th word of the 13th line. No other words in the poem may rhyme with these 13 words.
Prose poets: Sentences instead of lines.
Bonus Option: Make the poem about bad luck or superstition.
Acceptable Variation: syllables instead of words.
Write anything about nothing. (Make it rhyme or not)
Write a poem connecting the similarities between the micro and the macro.
Write a poem about trying to convince yourself to finally write poem.
(I'm trying to participate more in this sub to encourage and inspire the creativity of poets who linger in the shadows )
In Microsoft word at least; I was able to make two columns, one with a text box that I could invert and flip the text inside it.
Not sure how you would do this written or in another program but it was a very fun exercise!
Write a poem or whatever about your day today.
Write poem or whatever about what you "wanted to be when you are a grown up"
Write a poem or whatever about 2024.
I'm new to the group, so hope I'm doing this right
This variation was a development of a theme by Dorothy Mukherjee many moons ago; now barely recognisable. The original challenge to add an echo suggested by a Professor of English (Poetry.) I love the result and use this device a lot now.
Please show us one of your own verses (or a borrowed one),with an echo added; it is great fun.
LILTING ECHO ROAD TO HARMONY
A road that I will build for you, it grew
upon the dream that warms my heart. Will start
a way for you to walk upon, to swan
and dance among sweet daffodil safe until
virtue holds sway; not vice or ill. So will
goodness upon the World abound. You Found
no wilted bloom or leafās decay that may
the mind depress, or maim the spirit. Will merit
a place no life needs run wild-eyed, to hide
behind tall walls so fortified. No pride
of caste of faith, colour or creed; now need
harbour no grudge of consequence; from whence
mercy and love, as brooks do flow so slow
towards the point of innocuous sweet confluence.
In mist, distant beyond clear sight, is right
to where my view is dim and lost, so tossed,
my heart does float away, adrift does shift
my road wanders to left and right as slight
up hill, down dale, the way goes true, for who
amidst the space vacant and wide may stride
way down beside soft babbled brook, where rook
and thrush do drone as flute, baleful, so wailful
it does float away oāer windy wrath the path
of mountainās track stray from its way, and may
go where spirit is free, to wander, and ponders
now my soul; surreal my memory. In revelry
of silence reigns harmoniously, such jovially
natureās orchestral tunes, such sounds abound around.
I lie awake and remember your laugh, oh so silent in the dead of night. Why am I remembering when I know you never felt right.
The person who hates me:
Itās happening again It doesnāt seem to come to an end.
My mind is telling me much more than words could ever try to, I feel like I donāt know who I am in a world full of people who pretend that they do.
I feel like my presence irritates my friends, when I tell them about it, they just cant seem to comprehend.
āHow could someone hate you, youāre so kindā Little do they know that the someone who hates me, hides.
He hides behind my fake smile whenever Iām with friend and family He comes out whenever itās night time and I just feel lonely.
I donāt know who I am, who is that person on my screen? I feel sick, like my whole body turns green.
But I canāt let my friends know, Because Iām the one they rely on when they feel so low.
So Iāll put my fake smile on once again and pretend to be fine, So that the person who hates me, isnāt the one my friends see when theyāre longing for some help of mine.
There was this really fun exercise where i did a partner poems in middle school. The gist of it is a pair of partners take turns writing lines, kinda like finish the story. What do you guys think about that? (Edited for typo)
My favorite poetry prompt Iāve ever written about is this:
Write from the perspective of the flowers in your front yard
I would love to hear what you guys would write!
Using quotes, sayings, or phrases you have to start the next phrase with the last word of the first phrase
A drop in the hole in the bucket listen careFully loaded poetic license and registration please pass the peas and carrot gold in rule by force the issue at hand n hand it to them peoples republic for which it stands alone star state your name please spay and neuter you pet peeves me off the rocker her world peace on earth to whom it may concern is raised by wolves in sheepās clothes are optional screening process of elimination chamber of commerce act now and again and again but faster than the speed of light as a feather weight for me myself and I love you are who youāve been waiting for score and seven years ago in a galaxy far away from my desk chair man of the bored out of my mind over matter of fact of life is like a box of chocolate factory farm E I E I OH what fun it is to ride in a one horse open slay all day after tomorrow never comes the bride of chucky cheese ball of wax on wax off with their heads underwater off a ducks back to square one two many many moons over Miami Beach by the ocean in the drop
It went from loving you to hating you It went from laughing to crying about you Oh, how I never thought you could hurt me But certainly you never cared for me how I sit around waiting for you to come back But youāre still laughing at the fact that I really did love you and yes, maybe I did fight back But all I wanted was apology was that so hard to do? But you know I still waited for you while everyone was hating on you I stood there, defending your name every second of the day And maybe I never got a thank you but I still really cared for you I sat there, hoping that you would text me but you just left me Maybe that was a sign of goodbye But Iāll still wait for you longer then I want too
I loved her. She was everything to me and still is. Like a summer breeze, She reminded me of waking up to fresh air with birds chirping. A small gust of oxygen flowing through my body. She was as gentle as a flower but as tough as wood. She would often sway like the leaves and always see the sun if she could. The way she smiles would light up the earth and the way she laughs shows how much she is worth. She means everything to me and will always be, the number one person that I see. I love you sm.
Lmk how it is!
I read A Streetcar Named Desire in school and the main character resonated with me but she was consider the antagonist and I felt I couldnāt have a conversation with anyone who would empathize with her the way I did so I wrote about itā¦
They said she was weak because she couldnāt take the world for what it truly was, But I think she was just like me.
She had moth-like way about her because she was written in white and followed the moonlight.
She symbolized a woman of purity, But white stains so easily and she was a woman of many burdens.
She lived a high life with parties and ball gowns, but she had killed a man and retreated to hot water to clean the blood off her hands.
She had a stained innocence.
But she was delicate and refined.
She was cultured in the ways of music and literature, but fell victim to the brutality of man.
And such a pity it was that she lost her sanity.
Had empty bottles on the floor as she sat in bed hugging her knees with wide-eyes and Varsouviana's melody in the background of the city.
Distant words of hatred and disgust followed by a bullet in her loverās head,
But she was only a young girl.
She was sensitive.
Labeled a manipulative liar who desired men and sex to fill the void that gun had left.
And it was weak of her to create a world of perfection, But she was fragile and she loved magic.
Had a charm that was only 50 percent illusion and believed she could fool any man into a beutiful delusion.
She was decitful but she could use deception in the most graceful of ways. And i think of her every single day.
She was everything I hated and everything I loved. Light and dark, a shadow in reverse, a patch of light in a picture of pure darkness and beauty, she was just like me..
I just sent off a query letter to an agent for my next book. The agent seems right up my alley and will hopefully find the perfect publisher for my book. What kind of book, you ask? A childrenās book, a picture book.
This, however is not the important part. The problem I had was finding the perfect rhyme scheme to make it work. āThe Lady of Shallotā by Alfred Tynneson wound up the perfect fit and inspired some very nice edits. The greatest part of this was that the rhythm was as bouncy as Tigger from the Whinnie the Pooh books. For a kidās book, this crucial.
So, whatās the prompt? Write a kidās book. Make it funny. Give it a lesson. Give a hilariously wrong explanation to something mundane. Whatever. Write it so that youāre fighting the urge to bounce on your butt cheeks while scribbling/clacking away. Go research the kidās books at your local stores and library.
If you donāt want to share it here because you want to try publishing it for real, check out SCBWI.org if youāre serious. The Society of Childrenās Book Writers and Illistrators has great resources for publishing your little nuggets of brilliance for the wee ones. If you donāt want to share the story, please at least share the inspiration. Mineās a ridiculous explanation about the zoomies cats get. Best of luck, you creative scribblers.
And I'm up at 2:36am in the morning and without any pressure these words come to the surface, my mind unable to rest until I do something useful with myself. I feel elated for he loves me. And my hand has connected with a medium to communicate ideas through and I don't chase words the need to write arose on its own. And I know everytime I hear my literature professor talk it is what I was meant to do. If it wasn't written in the stars it is now. And I say I'm falling asleep as I type this you might think I'm distracted but I've never been more focused. And it's priceless that my mind can do this.