Two years ago, my friend Erinn (of the Lynda Barry prompts) and I were doing a poem a day challenge back and forth, and I started it with a sort of dare: what are you most afraid of? The prompt was based on a Fresh Air interview with graphic novelist Emil Ferris, whose first book has the excellent title My Favorite Thing is Monsters. The line from Ferris’s interview that most resonated with me was this:
I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear. ... But there is a chance that something ... will talk to me from the dark, so I have ... to be prepared for that communication, which has happened. I've had things in the darkness speak to me, not audibly, but certainly in my soul, and they've enriched the book. ... I'm not sure if they're on my team or not, but they have helped.
But guys, the actual world is too dark right now for me to tell you to write a poem about darkness. Let’s think about what we might wish for instead.
Prompt #23: Wishful Thinking
Make a list of things you’re wishing for, looking forward to, feeling hopeful about. This might feel squishy or sentimental. I think that’s okay. I think we all need something soft and hopeful right now.
Choose the things that feel interesting to you and craft images for them, thinking about sensory details related to each.
Write a poem in the shape of a wish. This might be short lines that kind of tumble down the page, or the longer lines of prayer. What kind of movement does your wish make?
Sharing your work helps sustain momentum. I’ll leave the comments open, so you can share a poem title, a snippet of a line, or something else about your writing life. I’m also on twitter (@nancy_reddy) and instagram (@nancy.o.reddy), if you want to check in there.