April is quite the month for writers! Not only is it the first Camp NaNoWriMo session of the year, but it’s also National Poetry Month!
We have focused primarily on writing fiction on this blog, but we’d argue that any and every writer should engage in exercising the poetry-writing muscles every once in a while. (You might just see a blog post on this soon…) This month, we’ll be sharing thirty prompts provided by poet, editor, author, and more Heather Lang-Cassera to help you get in touch with your poetic side. We’ve also included a few ways you could use the prompt if you’re feeling stuck.
Prompt #26: What’s your favorite cryptid? A jackalope? The Loch Ness Monster? Write about meeting them in an unexpected place.
- If you are not familiar with cryptids, as ever, Wikipedia is your friend.
- “Unexpected place” is so deliciously nonspecific. Take some time to brainstorm places in a variety of smaller categories—your town, places you’ve always wanted to go, et cetera—and you’ll be amazed at what you come up with!
Prompt #27: Grab a processed food from your pantry. Write a poem about the ingredient with which you’re least familiar. Don’t look it up!
- If you are very much a clean eater and do not keep processed food in your house, google a childhood favorite (good news—you can find anything’s ingredients online) or take a quick picture of a random package the next time you make a grocery run.
- Really stumped? There’s always acrostics!
Prompt #28: Write about your favorite shoes. Never mention that they are shoes.
- One question to ask yourself: to where have these particular shoes carried you?
- Shoes are everywhere in folklore. How can you use allusions to these stories in your poem?
Prompt #29: Write a poem about your first happy memory.
- If your memory is not the best, it might help to first think of items that have sentimental value to you that you’ve kept throughout the years.
- If you’re not sure of which memories came first, try creating a timeline of your life as a project within a prompt.
Prompt #30: Write a poem about the sunset. Avoid the words sunset, twilight, dusk, sky, and evening. Metaphor and personification may help.
- You may know Artemis and Apollo, but there are many, many other deities related to the sun and moon, and even some specific to the evening. Let them inspire you, but remain respectful to the cultures from which they come.
- You might immediately think of a sunset’s blazing colors, but challenge yourself to consider all five senses. A sunset at the beach smells different than the sunset witnessed out the window of the kitchen.
- It might help you to choose to write about a sunset you’ve experienced first hand, especially one in a place you do not normally go. The clearer the memory, the better!
About Heather Lang-Cassera
Heather Lang-Cassera lives in Las Vegas, Nevada where she served as Clark County Poet Laureate (2019-2021) and was named 2017 “Best Local Writer or Poet” by the readers of Nevada Public Radio’s Desert Companion. Heather holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a Graduate Certificate in Literary Translation. She serves as an Editor for Tolsun Books and World Literature Editor for The Literary Review. Her chapbook, I was the girl with the moon-shaped face, was published by Zeitgeist Press. Her collection, Gathering Broken Light, was published by Unsolicited Press. At Nevada State College, Heather teaches College Success, Composition, and Creative Writing. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter and find out more via her website.
