We implore you to use judiciously these prompts for creative betterment. Athletes exercise the limbs, poets exercise the imagination. More so, at EREMITE POETRY, we believe excellence is a journey: drop by drop a jug is filled, poem by poem excellence is attained.
Use the hashtag #EremiteDailyPrompts when you post your poems on social media.
Use the hashtag #EremiteDailyPrompts when you post your poems on social media.
MARCH 26, 2021: REBIRTH/REINCARNATION
Write a poem detailing what it would feel like to be reincarnated as any animal/object/spirit of your choice. Perhaps it is due to karma or an algorithm or a deity's doing. Explore the possibilities. Also, make sure to include imagery from your current life.
MARCH 25, 2021: THE CALM
Put down the pen. Put down your ambition. Today, rest.
MARCH 24, 2021: ASTRO-POETICS
Look up your Zodiac sign (if you don’t know it already), read up on its origins, all it declares about you.
Now write from a place of contemplation on your findings--ponder the accuracy or inaccuracy, or better still, abandon such terms & simply write towards self-wonderment.
Now write from a place of contemplation on your findings--ponder the accuracy or inaccuracy, or better still, abandon such terms & simply write towards self-wonderment.
MARCH 23, 2021: LITERARY ROOTS
We all have heroes/mentors who inspired us to pick up the pen. Write a poem of gratitude to this person, & in it, touch on the most frightening aspect of your writing journey so far.
MARCH 22, 2021: GPS POEM
Write a poem that reads like an address to a place, time, memory, body part etc.
You could begin your poem with the line: All journeys, peeled back, are pilgrimages…
You could begin your poem with the line: All journeys, peeled back, are pilgrimages…
MARCH 21, 2021: TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL ARS POETICA
On this World Poetry Day, spend your day writing a poem that directly opposes all institutional ideas of what poetry should be. Write a three-line poem & title it “Sonnet;” write a 12-line poem & title it “Haiku;” write a poem full of abstractions & title it “Imagery;” write a poem with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd abab & title it “Abandoning Useless Rhymes.”
Simply be everything the world tells you not to be. Happy World Poetry Day!
Simply be everything the world tells you not to be. Happy World Poetry Day!
MARCH 20, 2021: FAUX POETICA
Write a poem that satirizes a poet you adore. Title it, “Fake [name of poet] Poem.”
E.g. Fake Neruda Poem, Fake Osundare Poem, Fake Verissimo Poem etc
E.g. Fake Neruda Poem, Fake Osundare Poem, Fake Verissimo Poem etc
MARCH 19, 2021: PERSONAL CENTO
A cento (or collage poem) is a poetic form composed entirely of lines from poems by other poets. Put a spin on it. Take a line each from 10 poems you have written in the past, & with them, build a new poem.
Explore!
Explore!
MARCH 18, 2021: NOTHINGNESS
Read this Mary Oliver poem & do nothing else.
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MARCH 17, 2021: PLACE POEMS
Ibadan is third-largest city in Nigeria. JP Clark’s remarkable poem (of the same name) captures the spirit of the ancient city succinctly. Write a poem about a place dear to you. The poem can be of any length—though we vote for brevity.
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MARCH 16, 2021: INCEPTION
Write a poem in the form of a prompt. That is, the poem itself should be both a poem and a prompt.
To help with this, your first sentence could be: "Write a poem..."
To help with this, your first sentence could be: "Write a poem..."
MARCH 15, 2021: CONTEMPLATION
Spend the day pondering on the state of the world, the news in your country, & of course the sky. You don’t have to love what comes to mind, simply contemplate.
MARCH 14, 2021: ENCHANTMENT
Write a poem in the mode of an enchantment or prayer. End the poem with a threat.
Read June Jordan’s “I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies” to get into the headspace.
Read June Jordan’s “I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies” to get into the headspace.
MARCH 13, 2021: PONDERING SHADOWS
Shadows are nebulous, fascinating things. They appear in myths, legends, doing the unimaginable.
Is it possible shadows are alive? Does a shadow envy one's mirror reflection? Could a shadow attack its bearer? Ever pondered the existential interdependence between a shadow & a light source? If a shadow could weep, what colour would its tears be?
Write a poem titled "Shadow," & in it explore these questions—& more—to your satisfaction.
Is it possible shadows are alive? Does a shadow envy one's mirror reflection? Could a shadow attack its bearer? Ever pondered the existential interdependence between a shadow & a light source? If a shadow could weep, what colour would its tears be?
Write a poem titled "Shadow," & in it explore these questions—& more—to your satisfaction.
MARCH 12, 2021: BODY ODES
Close your eyes and listen to the sounds inside you. Your heartbeat, your breathing, your thoughts. Write a poem devoted to these—perhaps, an ode.
You could use these titles as footholds: Ode to Breath, Ode to Four-Chambered Turbine etc.
You could use these titles as footholds: Ode to Breath, Ode to Four-Chambered Turbine etc.
MARCH 11, 2021: WISHLIST
In five sentences, make a list of five things you wish you did in 2020.
Then, write a 10-line poem divided into five couplets. Each couplet should begin with a sentence from your list.
E.g.
I wanted to visit the Marbella,
now it's a grave. His.
Then, write a 10-line poem divided into five couplets. Each couplet should begin with a sentence from your list.
E.g.
I wanted to visit the Marbella,
now it's a grave. His.
MARCH 10, 2021: WEAK-KNEED NAIRA
Today’s prompt is inspired by NIgeria.
In 2014, $1 = N162 --- In 2021, $1 = N380
Write a poem begging the naira to halt its devaluation campaign.
In 2014, $1 = N162 --- In 2021, $1 = N380
Write a poem begging the naira to halt its devaluation campaign.
MARCH 9, 2021: CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD
Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Write a poem celebrating the women in your life, raise awareness against bias.
MARCH 8, 2021: BASKING IN SILENCE
It’s International Women’s Day! Write nothing today.
Just breathe & smile at all the women in your bloodline.
Just breathe & smile at all the women in your bloodline.
MARCH 7, 2021: PRACTISING BREVITY
Haikus help in the practice of brevity.
A haiku is a specific type of Japanese poem which has 17 syllables divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Contemporary haikus often deviate from the syllable count but stick to the three-line rule.
Write a haiku about a memory that should normally require a whole page to document.
A haiku is a specific type of Japanese poem which has 17 syllables divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Contemporary haikus often deviate from the syllable count but stick to the three-line rule.
Write a haiku about a memory that should normally require a whole page to document.
MARCH 6, 2021: ANTI-CLICHÉ
Write a poem that attempts to debunk a popular aphorism.
E.g. Actions speak louder than words
E.g. Actions speak louder than words
MARCH 5, 2021: STRANGER THINGS [What Is 'Friend?']
In S1Ep2 of Stranger Things, Eleven asks Lucas, “What is Friend?”
A question Mike, Lucas, & Dustin answer eagerly.
Put to you, write a poem exploring the endlessness of that question. Write without commas or full stops
A question Mike, Lucas, & Dustin answer eagerly.
Put to you, write a poem exploring the endlessness of that question. Write without commas or full stops
MARCH 4, 2021: MOON-NIVERSE
Jupiter has four large moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Look them up on Google (their pictures, their measurements, other things that catch your eye). Carry this information with you throughout the day, & then write a poem in the voice of Earth’s Moon to these four miraculous bodies.
Begin your poem with the line: Do you understand footprints, O Callisto...
Begin your poem with the line: Do you understand footprints, O Callisto...
MARCH 3, 2021: MATERNAL ROOTS
Write an ode to your great great grandmother & her mother. It is possible that you know close to nothing about them.
Listen to your body, write.
Listen to your body, write.
MARCH 2, 2021: THE LAZY POEM
Listen to “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Bars—as many times as you want—& pick any line from the lyrics as the title of your poem for today.
Have fun writing!
Have fun writing!
MARCH 1, 2021: STARTING WITH [ ] AND ENDING WITH [ ]
Write a poem that starts with a concrete image describing something you experienced during the day, and end the poem—the last word of the poem—with an abstract noun. Whatever else happens within the poem is up to you.
E.g. Nome Patrick, in his poem, Starting With Shrubs And Ending With Wonder, begins with the poem with the speaker’s encounter with shrubs, and indeed ends the poem with the word “wonder.”
E.g. Nome Patrick, in his poem, Starting With Shrubs And Ending With Wonder, begins with the poem with the speaker’s encounter with shrubs, and indeed ends the poem with the word “wonder.”
FEB 28, 2021: SELENOPHILE
Write a poem made up entirely of questions you’ve always wanted to ask the moon.
FEB 27, 2021: INHABITING THE ORDINARY
Pablo Neruda and Mary Oliver are well known for their deep fascination with ordinary life, and incorporating that into poems. Write an ode to an object/thing/plant you interact with every day.
Read Neruda’s Ode to My Socks, & Oliver’s Foolishness? No, It’s Not to help unbuckle your imagination.
Read Neruda’s Ode to My Socks, & Oliver’s Foolishness? No, It’s Not to help unbuckle your imagination.
FEB 26, 2021: PROVERBIAL
The poet, Niyi Osundare, is well known for his use of proverbs to get in touch with the cultural ear. Pick any proverb from your native tongue, and begin your poem with it. Go as far as you can, exploring the proverb’s possibilities in the context of your poem.
E.g. “All lizards lie flat on their stomach, and it is difficult to determine which has stomachache,” a Yoruba proverb, is a stunning opening for a poem.
E.g. “All lizards lie flat on their stomach, and it is difficult to determine which has stomachache,” a Yoruba proverb, is a stunning opening for a poem.
FEB 25, 2021: POETIC ORIGINS
Poetry predates you. That much is true. Visit the Poetry Foundation archive, and go directly to the month/year you were born. Pick a poem that stands out to you from that issue and write a reply to it.
E.g. In the June Issue of POETRY (1996), Alan Shapiro has a poem titled “Against Poets.” A person born in that month could choose to write a reply poem to that.
Just have fun connecting with the poetic voices active in the month of your birth.
Visit the archive here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/archive
E.g. In the June Issue of POETRY (1996), Alan Shapiro has a poem titled “Against Poets.” A person born in that month could choose to write a reply poem to that.
Just have fun connecting with the poetic voices active in the month of your birth.
Visit the archive here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/archive
feb 24, 2021: ars poetica
Today’s prompt is directly inspired by a tweet by the poet, Nkosi Nkululeko:
Write a 5-line Ars Poetica. The opening tercet describes Poetry, then concludes with a couplet dedicated to 1 truth you never got to say to your childhood nemesis.
Here’s an example by Aaron, grade 11, that appeared in the 2017 edition of WORDPLAY, JB’s annual anthology of student writing.
Write a 5-line Ars Poetica. The opening tercet describes Poetry, then concludes with a couplet dedicated to 1 truth you never got to say to your childhood nemesis.
Here’s an example by Aaron, grade 11, that appeared in the 2017 edition of WORDPLAY, JB’s annual anthology of student writing.
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Feb 23, 2021: Listening to the Universe
Whether you are in a room, on a walk, listening to music, or watching a movie, pay attention throughout your day, & jot down random sentences you hear.
Later, list out these sentences in a book/note app, & using them, write a four-line poem.
The last line should be an image.
Learn a little about imagery here: https://www.softschools.com/examples/grammar/imagery_examples/141/
Later, list out these sentences in a book/note app, & using them, write a four-line poem.
The last line should be an image.
Learn a little about imagery here: https://www.softschools.com/examples/grammar/imagery_examples/141/
Feb 22, 2021: Parallel Poem-verse
The world is made up of matter and antimatter. Poems too, we'd like to think, work as such.
Pick a poem of your choice (e.g Danez Smith's Little Prayer), & wander towards its opposite-ness.
Yours could be titled, Little Curse. Who knows? Just enjoy the process & write your perfect little anti-poem.
Pick a poem of your choice (e.g Danez Smith's Little Prayer), & wander towards its opposite-ness.
Yours could be titled, Little Curse. Who knows? Just enjoy the process & write your perfect little anti-poem.
feb 21, 2021
Write a 10-line poem from the perspective of a spoon. The word "eat" should not appear throughout the poem.
Start with the sentence, "I am too busy sustaining the world..."
Start with the sentence, "I am too busy sustaining the world..."
