Write Your Own Joy: 3 Poetry Prompts

Hey there fellow poets and writers. Are you ready to write some joy-filled poetry? Below are 3 prompts from my book Write Your Own Joy: 31 Poetry Prompts. Each prompt has “ways to play” suggestions below it – great for beginner poets looking for a little more structure or anyone wanting to try a different style or a new way into their poem. If you enjoy the prompts and want more, head over to Amazon for the ebook (read for free if you have KU) or paperback versions.

Sending you love and joy, Kim x

Prompt 1 (from Week 1, Day 2)

Write a poem about an item of clothing that feels special to you.

Ways to Play:

• Think about the texture of the item: Is it hand-knit, chunky or fine, rough or supple? How can you describe that texture?
• Where is the item from (store? hand-me-down? heirloom?) Is there anything special about how you came to have this item?
• What feelings does this item evoke? Why is it special to you?

Prompt 2 (from Week 2, Day 11)

Write a poem containing these three words: beauty, towards, walk.

Ways to Play:

• If you usually write free verse, try creating a simple rhyme scheme for yourself to follow today (for example: AA, BB, CC or ABA, CDC). Conversely, if you usually write in rhyme, try free verse or even a prose poem here.
• Try creating a poem with three stanzas and use one of the words in each.
• Or, use all the words in the first line of your poem.

Prompt 3 (from Week 4, Day 26)

Make an acrostic poem using the word POETRY as your base. An acrostic poem takes the base word and uses each letter as the first letter of each line.

For example:

Poems are fun
Or serious, or both
Each one a new moment
Transformed,
Retold, just for
You.

Ways to Play:

• Make it a longer poem by either repeating the word POETRY three times or expanding the base word into a term: POETRY ROCKS; I LOVE POETRY; POETRY IS PERFECTION.
• Instead of starting each line with the base word, end each line with the appropriate letter. (For example: the final word of the first line would end in a “p,” the final word of the second line would end in an “o,” and so on.)
• Focus on one of the senses and explore its relationship to the word or idea of poetry. (For example: how does poetry sound? What does poetry look like on the page?)

Want more prompts? Get your copy of Write Your Own Joy: 31 Poetry Prompts on Amazon.

Read more about Write Your Own Joy here.

Find more free prompts on the For Writers & Poets section of my website.

Pen illustration: Farida Zaman

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