High School

Personify Poetry

- PROMPT -

Step 1: Make a list of words or phrases you would use to describe the idea of poetry. What comes to mind when you think of poetry? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Use your five senses to help.

Poetry looks like...

Poetry sounds like...

Poetry smells like...

Poetry feels like...

Poetry tastes like...

Step 2: From your list, use the words or phrases that inspire you the most to form a poem. Include sensory-detailed descriptions to truly encapsulate the feeling of poetry.

Alternatively, use the format above to personify the idea of music.

Poem about Warmth

- Prompt -

Warmth can mean many things: the sun beaming on your face on a warm day, the warmth from hot chocolate or coffee in the morning, snuggles from your favorite four-legged friend, or even the warmth that you feel when a loved one says they love you.

Write a poem about what warmth mean to you. Where do you find warmth? You may take this literally, figuratively, emotionally, physically...

Alternatively: Write about the cold.

Doors

- SPARK -

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- PROMPT -

You’ve been walking for quite some time when suddenly you come upon this door. It took you by surprise. Something tells you not to go through it; on the other hand, you feel yourself drawn towards it.

Take a good look at the door. Do you recognize the door or is it completely foreign to you? What color is it? What texture or details can you identify? Do you go through the door or do you resist the urge? What is the aftermath of this decision?

12 Line Poem (A Free Verse Form Poem)

- PROMPT -

Line 1, 2 words: adjective and noun

Line 2, 3 words: first word must end in “ing”

Line 3, 4 words: one must be a color

Line 4, 3-4 words: one must name a place

Line 5, 1 word: must represent a sound (onomatopoeia)

Line 6, 3 words: one must name an animal

Line 7, 4-5 words: one must describe the weather

Line 8, 2-3 words: one must give a sense of the time

Line 9, 3-5 words: must convey emotion

Line 10, 3-5 words: prepositional phrase

Line 11, 3-5 words: one must name a body part

Line 12, 2 words

My "Most Me" Place

- SPARK -

My Most Me Place

Halley Miglietta

My most me place is not a place I can visit, or walk to, or picnic at. It’s a place I can feel only when my breathing becomes my focal point and I become conscious of its rhythm, astute to its pattern, sensation, and duration. From there I can access something so tremendous, that I AM ALIVE RIGHT NOW, in this very moment, and what a miracle it is to remember the gift of simply be alive. My most me place is hard to access sometimes. It’s difficult to get to when I’m worrying about how things might turn out or when I’m feeling down on myself for choices I’ve made or certain things I’ve said and done. I can’t feel my most me place when I’m harboring judgement or criticism of another or when I’m trying to solve problems that are mostly imaginary. My most me place has everything to do with a gesture of acceptance. An acceptance of life exactly as it is, an acceptance of myself exactly as I am, an acceptance of others exactly as they are. When I can’t call upon a warm sheath of acceptance to settle the angsty spasms in my chest cavity, I know there’s somewhere for me to journey to, in order to get myself back to right here. Which becomes my cue to get quiet enough to feel the wax and wane of my breathing and the pulsation of my heartbeat, and a remembrance of what a gift it is to simply be alive.

- PROMPT -

Write about a Place where you felt you could just be you. The place can be real or imaginary. Either way, describe it in as much detail as you can. Were you there with other people or were you alone? What is it about this place that made you feel at ease?


 

I Remember...

 

- Spark -

Photograph, American River, 1986

Marie Reynolds

We are farther upstream

than I had remembered,

the water calmer, the vessel

stronger,

big enough to hold

the two of us--

a boat I can imagine

settling into again, rowing

upriver with him,

but slower this time,

and longer,

before pulling in the oars

and drifting. 

- Prompt -

How many stories begin with “I remember…?” The story then recounts a person or an experience that stuck in the speaker’s mind. Over time, the story often begins to change as the speaker forgets certain aspects of the story or person and begins to fill-in new or altered details. Think of an event or person in your life you’d like to remember. Which details are important? Which details are you absolutely positive you remember accurately? Which details are you unsure of? Write down what you remember.

Burst Poem

- Spark -

Burst Poem

Y.L.

I think I don’t deserve to be away from my loved ones

I hate that I wake up to these white walls

I wish I was home and free to do anything I want

I learned that getting fast money doesn’t last forever, 100

I love the fact that she’s still with me even though I’m putting her through pain

I regret leaving that day

I should have stayed instead of going somewhere I had no business going

 

- Prompt -

 

One of the best ways to connect with how we’re feeling or what we want to say is to write down what we’re feeling without thinking too much. Before we write this poem, respond quickly--in short bursts of short ideas--to these sentence starters:

a) I think...

b) I hate...

c) I wish...

d) I learned...

e) I love...

f) I regret…

When you finish the brainstorm, choose one of your responses and write a poem. For an extra challenge, try to write the poem without using the descriptive verb or emotion.