NaPoWriMo Day 2 Prompt - 2023

April is National Poetry Writing Month, and while I won't be writing a poem a day, I like to check in on the prompts and see what strikes my fancy.  The I prompts I use, or don't use, or save for later, are here.

Day two was a three parter.

 

Part one: "Today’s prompt asks you to begin by picking 5-10 words from the following list. Next, write out a question for each word that you’ve selected."

From the list, I picked the following eight words. 

fog

river

miracle

gutter

thunder

ghost

longing

song

Then, my questions, which may have been a bit specific.

Does the fog obscure the river today?

Is the river smooth this morning?

What do you feel is a miracle?

What do I see in the gutter?

Does thunder frighten the dog?

Is that a ghost I see lurking on the attic stairs?

How deep is your longing?

Can a song settle your worried mind?

Part two: "Now for each question, write a one-line answer. Try to make the answer an image, and don’t worry about strict logic. These are surrealist answers, after all!"

My answers (not very surrealistic):

Does the fog obscure the river today? The fog rises off the river this morning.

Is the river smooth this morning?  The water as smooth as a looking glass.

What do feel is a miracle? There are no miracles, only mysteries.

What do I see in the gutter?  The reflection of skies in motor oil.

Does thunder frighten the dog?  When thunder booms, the dog shivers next to me.

Is that a ghost I see lurking on the attic stairs?  No ghosts, just memories.

How deep is your longing?  Immeasurable depth…

Can a song settle your worried mind?  Until the music stops. 

Part three: "After you’ve written out your series of questions and answers, place all the answers, without the questions, on a new page. See if you can make a poem of just the answers. You may find that what you have is very beautifully mysterious, and somehow has its own logic."

I switched some of the order of the answers, and feel I got two poems, and two leftovers. 

1 - The fog rises off the river this morning.

The water as smooth as looking glass.

The reflection of skies in motor oil.

 

2 - There are no miracles, only mysteries.

No ghosts, just memories.

Until the music stops.

 

Leftovers - When thunder booms, the dog shivers next to me.

Immeasurable depth…

©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

Interesting prompt.  

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