[Prompt] - Our Epithalamium

Prompt: "Take the words of every first line of every poem you've had a prompt and make a new poem out of them." - Chris Fratz


Our Epithalamium

oh grace suffocated long ago
by whiskey and coals and war
and i am redeemed by
a wedding ring

so let's go prepare, for
there's news and you know
i am saved of my will
for its sacred pact: “yes”

oh love, she's
always breaking brighter than
my bright broken bones,
now a white powder

mark its words and force
it was for remembrance, and
sometimes i remember all we got:
burnt creatures and a breaking god

[Prompt] - Carnival

Prompt: "The first person account of a summer carnival at night but slowly we learn that the speaker is crazy, and actually exploring an abandoned carnival in winter." - Adam Clarke


Carnival

Oh my God, it's all so bright!
Sweetie, remember all the winter nights
We ached for all the smells and sights,
The cotton candy and the Ferris lights?

[Prompt] - New Blood

Prompt: "Write what is going on in the tortoises head each time he comes across the hare and the hare subsequently sprints ahead again. Including the start and finish of the race... Oh yeah and the tortoise is a serial killer..." - Kurt Cziriak



New Blood

Leg 1.

Oh yes.
Oh. Yeeees.
This is the field of battle
But should we call it battle
If it will end in massacre?
We shall call it battle still
And battle it shall be, though-
What?
Oh.
Oh yes of course.
Yes you see I ignored
The Ready, yes, and The Steady,
And I even ignored the-
No. Not by accident.
You see, there is a

[Prompt] - Salvage

Prompt: "A poem about a therapist, walking home from work and thinking about his or her day." - Michael Patrick Oakley

Salvage

Sometimes

I wish I kept track

On a little scoresheet

Wins v. Losses

Like a sociopath would do

Just so I could see how much higher

The former

And just how few

The latter

[Prompt] - Kill Your Muses

Prompt: "I want you to write about the relationship between train riders. Specifically, the emotional impact they have on each other without knowing it, and how they involve others in their own image of self or story." - Evan Aubertin

Kill Your Muses

She's got a wedding ring

More diamonds than gold

More Friends than friends

North Face, Pandora, ugg.

[Prompt] - Coronation Day

Prompt: "When a new ant queen flies away from the colony to start her own, she has to rip off her wings and voluntarily sacrifice the gift of flight." - Priyanka Dargan

Coronation Day

Let's go.

Me,

And the unborn shadow of a new colony.

No escort, drones, yet,

Watch me fucking soar.

It's the day I get my crown,

If I have to rip off my own wings

And make it out of them myself.

Because I'll be Queen enough soon,

And I'll run through this earth

And eat myself a throne.

So long, once and future subjects.

I go to a better place

I go for better things

Keep your ear to the ground

For when your exiled Queen,

Her essence split ten thousand strong,

Comes marching back

Wingless, flightless,

With regicide in her mouth

[Prompt] - Nine Lines About a Fox

Prompt: "A haiku because it's Friday and you deserve a break. Subject? I just saw a little fox with mange, no tail, and a limp outside of my office and I think he deserves a poem." - Loren McFalls

Well, Loren, I think your little fox deserved three.

1. Kindred

We breaking creatures

Are not broken dead, not yet

We refuse solace

[Prompt] - Hive Mind

Prompt: "A day in the life of a colony of bees, from the perspective of the singular hive mind, but not just describing what they do." Ted Wilkowski

Hive Mind

Prepare for war

Though war has never come

Aye aye, to the garden!

Aye aye, to the comb!

Aye aye, to the queen!

Scatter formation as I fly

Buzz the petals close and-

What?

[Prompt] - On Hallowed Ground

Prompt: "A sonnet about a young winegrower tending to century's old vines." - Jamie Rubin


On Hallowed Ground

By Love am I saved, and by Grace redeemed
So I may afresh tread this ancient ground.
Though unclean, by the Bishop am I deemed
Worthy from the altar to hear the sound
Of the breath of God made glorious hymn
From Spirit's mouth to the whispers of the vine,
And from the windows mark the juice within
The sweetness of the fruit incarnadine.
But mark neither tongue nor heart to think -
By the sloth of too often sated mind -
That I should not thirst for that sweeter drink
Always, til Heaven gives that lasting wine,
And I am brought before the Vineyard's Lord
While the perfect vintage to me is poured

[Prompt] - Blink Once

Prompt: "Write a poem about someone experiencing locked-in syndrome and watching their SO pull the plug." -Chris Fratz


You know force of will
It's the extra bullet in the empty clip
When John McClane shouldn't be able to fight anymore
But does
When Steve Rogers shouldn't be able to handle the serum
But does
When Beatrix Kiddo shouldn't be able to wiggle her big toe
But does
When I should be able to blink at you
But I can't

[Prompt] - To Steel From Stone

Prompt: "A series of haikus about the building of the transcontinental railroad." - Christian Armstrong

Added Restrictions: Since haikus can't be written English, I went with a 6/8/4 meter and an ABA rhyme scheme to remain true to the spirit of the original request


To Steel, From Stones

Burnt coal and broken bones
But hey, civilization, right?
To steel, from stones.

[Prompt] - Screencap

Prompt: "A poem in the form of of a string of tweets (no fewer than 3, no more than 10) for a company's official Twitter feed as written by an employee who is about to be laid off/fired." - Scott Hudson

Screencap