Every Wednesday, Robert Lee Brewer shares a prompt and an example poem to get things started on the Poetic Asides blog. This week, write a pandemic poem.
One strength of our poeming community is our ability to be open and kind to each other. I hope that remains true for this week’s prompt, which I’ve been holding off on sharing until everyone’s had a little perspective on it. Please keep political debates on other platforms. This is where we do our poeming.
For today’s prompt, write a pandemic poem. While writing about a pandemic in large brush strokes is fine, consider focusing your poem on the specific. For instance, the act of wearing a mask, staying at home, or worrying about a loved one. Of course, there are many negative and conflicted emotions caught up in a pandemic, but there’s also room for humor (for instance, Zoom chats) and meditation (a lot of alone time). And while we’re in a pandemic at the moment, feel encouraged to dive into previous (or imagined future) pandemics if you wish.
Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them.
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Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
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Here’s my attempt at a Pandemic Poem:
“2020”
So many things I planned to do
won’t come to be this year, I fear.
I try my best to not feel blue
about the things I planned to do,
especially the ones with you,
but all good things in time, my dear.
So many things that we can do
in our future years without fear.
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