Posts Tagged ‘ prompts ’

This week’s prompt

I may have mentioned once or twice (or 500 times!) that I was stranded in Chicago last month. A 2-hour layover turned into an overnight stay. Fortunately, I used the time to write up some prompts for Big Tent Poetry. (I also did a fair amount of whining and fretting, which I know surprises you.)

For this week’s Carolee-is-talking-AGAIN-about-being-stranded-in-the-airport prompt, write a poem about being stuck somewhere. You may remember a time when you, too, were a my-flight’s-been-canceled zombie. Where do you need to go? Where are you coming from? What will you do with all of your newly-found “free” time?

Never been physically stuck at an airport? Imagine being trapped in an elevator or with a flat tire on the side of the road. Imagine yourself anywhere you don’t want to be. Imagine trying to get somewhere else. Oh, the futility! Imagine someone stopping you from getting there. Oh, the madness!

You may also consider writing about being stuck in a metaphoric rut. Maybe you have lost your muse (check the lint trap, next to those lost socks). Maybe you are stuck with old habits. Maybe you are stuck in a relationship (or without one). Wherever you are stuck — in your mind or in the world — write about being there or trying to get out.

Caution: Don’t get so stuck you forget to come back starting Friday and bring us your poems!

How prompts work under the Big Tent

We post prompts on Mondays, and you have all week to write your poems, based on our fabulous prompt or any other inspiration. Come back on Friday when you will find a “Come One, Come All” post where you can use the comments section to 1) leave a link to your poem or 2) leave the poem in its entirety.

You’ll have all day Friday (and all weekend!) to post your work and read each others’ work. Take your time. Enjoy all the poems that are new to the world.

Some hints

Hint: We’ve set Big Tent Poetry to Central Time.

Hint: An easy way to check on new post comments is with RSS reader, if you use one. Here’s the address: https://bigtentpoetry.org/comments/feed.

Hint: If you are new to our site, your comment(s) will be held for moderation for your first few posts. If you put more than one link in your comment, your comment(s) will be held for moderation. We’re checking the filters often, so don’t despair! That said, if it takes more than a half a day to see it come live on the site, do email us at info (at) bigtentpoetry.org. (But be patient, okay?)

Circus etiquette

We figure you know how to play in the poetry community, but here are the basics:

Be nice. Have fun. Remember we aren’t a critique forum. We want to support each other as we bring more poetry into our lives. Only provide critique if someone specifically asks for it.

Although we love seeing our badge in the sidebar of your blog, we would appreciate it if you would also link back to the site in each of your poem posts. Linking within your post helps people travel back and forth from your site to the Big Tent Poetry site, and it helps perpetuate Big Tent Poetry “findability” in Google searches — and that helps us all.

This week’s prompt

I love science poems. And I bet you too, even if you don’t think you like science. The subject is full of strange details and ideas that beg to be written about. Here are three recent news items that intrigued me and might be the launching pad for your science-based poem:

Alien life might have been found in old meteors: “The implications are that life is everywhere, …”
The junky interior of the International Space Station: “Clutter adorns almost every surface and is held in place by duct tape, Velcro and metal clips …”
That Antarctic ice is created from below as well as above: “… the ghostly shapes of the Gamburtsevs and the giant freeze-on “beehive” structure … .”

Even if you don’t think you are keen on science, use the stories or ideas as a metaphor for something in your own life or a made-up life. The odd mix of fact and fiction is poetry in the making. Need a little more inspiration? Here’s a poem and an interview at qarrtsiluni about “Science as Poetry.” The Discover site offers “Science Poem of the Week” (they have eight from 2006). Michelle McGrane wrote a series of “postcards” from space travel in her new book, which you can read at Pindrop Press. Have your own favorite science poem or poet? Let us know Friday, when you bring us your new poem!

How prompts work under the Big Tent

We post prompts on Mondays, and you have all week to write your poems, based on our fabulous prompt or any other inspiration. Come back on Friday when you will find a “Come One, Come All” post where you can use the comments section to 1) leave a link to your poem or 2) leave the poem in its entirety. You’ll have all day Friday (and all weekend!) to post your work and read each others’ work. Take your time. Enjoy all the poems that are new to the world.

Some hints

Hint: We’ve set Big Tent Poetry to Central Time.

Hint: An easy way to check on new post comments is with RSS reader, if you use one. Here’s the address: https://bigtentpoetry.org/comments/feed.

Hint: If you are new to our site, your comment(s) will be held for moderation for your first few posts. If you put more than one link in your comment, your comment(s) will be held for moderation. We’re checking the filters often, so don’t despair! That said, if it takes more than a half a day to see it come live on the site, do email us at info (at) bigtentpoetry.org. (But be patient, okay?)

Circus etiquette

We figure you know how to play in the poetry community, but here are the basics: Be nice. Have fun. Remember we aren’t a critique forum. We want to support each other as we bring more poetry into our lives. Only provide critique if someone specifically asks for it. Although we love seeing our badge in the sidebar of your blog, we would appreciate it if you would also link back to the site in each of your poem posts. Linking within your post helps people travel back and forth from your site to the Big Tent Poetry site, and it helps perpetuate Big Tent Poetry “findability” in Google searches — and that helps us all.

This week’s prompt

I spent a lot of time recently in close quarters on planes and in terminals and at gates. Stranded at Chicago O’Hare, I couldn’t resist entertaining myself in odd and socially-unacceptable ways. One of them was reading over the shoulder of the person next to me. Here is a Wordle with words snatched from the novel the woman sitting to my right was reading.

I also pilfered three phrases: “Say more,” “There is also the matter of ____” and “He started by _____.” Feeling up to an additional challenge? Use the Wordle words and one of the phrases. A bonus week. A double dare, if you will.

Pick any number of words (yes, from one to all, and combine them with one of the phrases, or not!) and write yourself a poem! Come back starting Friday and through the weekend to post your poems!

How prompts work under the Big Tent

We post prompts on Mondays, and you have all week to write your poems, based on our fabulous prompt or any other inspiration. Come back on Friday when you will find a “Come One, Come All” post where you can use the comments section to 1) leave a link to your poem or 2) leave the poem in its entirety.

You’ll have all day Friday (and all weekend!) to post your work and read each others’ work. Take your time. Enjoy all the poems that are new to the world.

Some hints

Hint: We’ve set Big Tent Poetry to Central Time.

Hint: An easy way to check on new post comments is with RSS reader, if you use one. Here’s the address: https://bigtentpoetry.org/comments/feed.

Hint: If you are new to our site, your comment(s) will be held for moderation for your first few posts. If you put more than one link in your comment, your comment(s) will be held for moderation. We’re checking the filters often, so don’t despair! That said, if it takes more than a half a day to see it come live on the site, do email us at info (at) bigtentpoetry.org. (But be patient, okay?)

Circus etiquette

We figure you know how to play in the poetry community, but here are the basics:

Be nice. Have fun. Remember we aren’t a critique forum. We want to support each other as we bring more poetry into our lives. Only provide critique if someone specifically asks for it.

Although we love seeing our badge in the sidebar of your blog, we would appreciate it if you would also link back to the site in each of your poem posts. Linking within your post helps people travel back and forth from your site to the Big Tent Poetry site, and it helps perpetuate Big Tent Poetry “findability” in Google searches — and that helps us all.