Write a poem based on a word you mispronounced (“vague,” “zebra”) for an inexcusable amount of time.
EXTRA BONUS BRAND NEW 2017 PROMPT:
Explain the following sign: “Due to last week’s incident, there are no more Oreos allowed in the library.”
Category: tips from the bar
Tips from the Bar: White Elephant
Write a polite thank-you note for a gift you definitely did not want.
Tips from the Bar: Hello, 2017
Use the following John Murillo idea from his book, Up Jump the Boogie, as a ghost line:
“Shame is a luxury lost on the wretched.”
Tips from the Bar: Down to the Crossroads
Go down to the crossroads, and meet your Devil there. What do you talk about? Is there a soul sold, and in exchange for what?
SPECIAL BONUS PROMPT: write about the poet laureate of a place you don’t like.
Tips from the Bar: It’s All True
Find a setlist for a band you don’t usually listen to (examples here). Let it inform the arc of your poem.
Tips from the Bar: That Guy Works for a Living
Write about the job you held for the shortest amount of time. Include why you quit/left/were fired.
Tips from the Bar: Adulting Choices
Use this concept from John Pinkham as a ghost line, theme, or literalism:
The floor is lava! Everything in the adult world is lava!
Tips from the Bar: We Can Do It
Write a poem about how your parent’s (or parents’) occupation defined them.
Tips from the Bar: The Happy Parakeet
Find something in the real world that seems especially unusual or out of context.
Don’t ask anyone involved to explain it. Write your own explanation.
Tips from the Bar: The Museum of Broken Relationships Is a Real Place
…Or at least as real as a place in L.A. can be.
Write about an exhibit in an unlikely museum, i.e., The Museum of Stolen Office Equipment or The Museum of Lost Teddy Bears. (Or: just write about your wing in the Museum of Broken Relationships.)
Boston Poetry Slam Online