Animate is a poetry prompt that focuses on speaking as if we are a particular object or thing. This time, we’re speaking as Bridges & Tunnels.
Prompt Guidelines and Options
1. Speak in the first person.
2. Be specific. Think nouns instead of adjectives.
3. Consider where you—a bridge or a tunnel—are located, or where you came from, or where you are going. Or, speak as if you have a special desire or concern: maybe you are hungry, missing something, afraid of a sight or sound, in love with another bridge or tunnel that is like you or not like you. Be creative. Any type of situation is fair game.
4. Consider doing a little research about the bridge or tunnel you will speak as: folklore, history, associated words, music, art, sculpture, architecture, fashion, science, and so on. Look for unusual details, so you can speak convincingly and intriguingly about yourself.
That’s it! We look forward to hearing you speak poetically, from the viewpoint of bridges & tunnels.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our last poetry prompt. Here is a poem from Prasanta we enjoyed:
When 19 at the Fontana Di Trevi
When I was 19
at the Fontana Di Trevi
I tossed in three coins
with the right hand
over the left shoulder
I lost track of where they landed
among hundreds of copper and silver bits
splattered like a random mosaic
on the fountain’s floor
I walked on then
through the long, narrow piazza
past the hungry pigeons
to the rest of the day, the rest of Italy
and the rest of my life
If the bits were underwater, drowning
they’d still catch fire, blaze,
in a far-off future
or so it goes with magic and wishes
But years later
I’d find out the true charge for dreams
I’d collect a bag of gold and toss it all in
For friendship, love, happiness
Would it cost extra
for a certain pair of eyes
because tears and time
are too high of a price to pay
I’d drop in as many shiny, crisp coins needed
to end poverty, hunger,
Tell me the cost
to end refugees’ wandering
and to build the homeless a home
What is the price to pay,
Fontana Di Trevi,
to end racial divides
and for men to respect women
as fellow creatures of dignity
I’ve been saving coins and wishes
ever since the day
I heard it on the news
since I saw you fleeing
since I saw you weeping
And I’ve been saving
for my own lonely heart
you think three coins is enough
it’s all you’ve got
But when you’re older
you’d gather all the gold of this world
and dump it in the fountain of wishes
if that’s all it took
Photo by Alyssa. Creative Commons via Flickr.
How to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.
“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland