Category: Poetry Prompts

Every day is somebody’s birthday! Who do you know who has a birthday coming up soon? Write a poem to that person telling them why they’re special or what they mean to you. Work on it until every word is exactly the one you want. Do you want your poem to rhyme? Do you want it to have a certain number of syllables on a line? Is it a list poem or a story? You get to decide. You can even give it to the person as a birthday gift!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1200 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Today marks the 18th Anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States. “The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. Additional people died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks.” The site of the World Trade Center “Twin Towers” is now the September 11 Memorial and Museum.

To mark this day let’s create prayer poems with hopes and wishes for children of today living in the post 9-11 world.

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1200 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Back to school

School bells are ringing, schedules are made, new pens and pencils and notebooks full of blank pages fill bright, new backpacks.

Write a poem about the beginning of the school year—or the beginning of any school year you remember. Are you excited/scared/worried? Does anything surprise you? What do you like best? Least?

Try writing your poem in couplets—two lines that rhyme. See what happens if you take two couplets and use the first lines from each and then the second lines from each so every other line rhymes. Which poem do you like better?

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1200 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Labor Day, called by some the “Worker’s Holiday,” is celebrated the first Monday in September and was signed into law on June 28, 1894, by President Grover Cleveland. Up until that time workers (including children as young as five) toiled twelve hours a day, seven days a week to eke out a living. Nowadays, thanks to the efforts of those early labor movement organizers, we Americans take fairer work conditions for granted. However, for the sake of this prompt, let’s pretend we are one of those early labor organizers, making up a chant for the Labor Day Rally.

According to Merriam-Webster, “a chant is a repeated rhythmic phrase, typically one shouted or sung in unison by a crowd.” Chants are short. (One or two lines at most), set to a definite march beat. Often they rhyme.

Hint: It might be easiest to find rhymes first. To that end list words that rhyme with labor, day, work, or others that come to mind when you think of Labor Day.

Ready, Set, March!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1200 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

It’s hard to believe summer is coming to an end. Long, sunny days are growing shorter. Nights are cooler. Trips to the beach or pool are less frequent.

What signs tell you that summer is almost over? Back to school sales? The one branch of red leaves? Geese flying overhead?

What do you do to celebrate the end of summer? Take one last swim or hike? Bake (or eat) one more pie? Have one more campfire and roasted marshmallow?

List some things you notice at the end of summer. Use the questions above to help you make your list. Think about activities that you try to do one more time or maybe some that you know are coming to an end.

An ode is a poem that celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. It often follows a certain pattern of number of lines or number of beats on a line. It’s usually short and tries to capture the emotion of the celebrated item.

Choose one (or more) of the things on your list and write an ode to summer.

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1200 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Today marks the 100th 7-Minute Poetry Challenge! A 100-hand round of applause to those of you who’ve tried any—all—of the prompts. (All the prompts are posted & waiting if you’d like to give them a go or take a look back.)

If ours were a kindergarten class, we would each have brought a hundred of one ingredient: toothpicks, cotton balls, acorns, M&Ms … and mixed them all up into some marvelous creation—trail mix or a wreath, a Fruit Loop necklace. As our focus is poetry, let’s do it with words.

Using one of the following prompts, write a poem. If you really want to celebrate, create a 100 Word Poem!

100 Reasons Why I Love ————-
100 Things I Want to Do Before I Grow up——-
If I were making a 100 Memory Necklace it would include—

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1200 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

It’s berry season! The Kingston Trio sang a song called “Raspberries, Strawberries” that you can watch here:

Which kind of berries are your favorite? I love blueberries and strawberries—especially in a strawberry rhubarb pie. I love walking through wild strawberries and smelling the sweet smell underfoot. And scratches are worthwhile for raspberries warmed by the sun.

Write a poem about berries—any kind, any form. I bet it will be sweet!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1200 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Summer is in full swing! For some this means hiding in the AC, for others it means bugs or vacation, and for still others it means hot Hot HOT! When it’s just “Too Darn Hot” there’s one surefire way I know to beat the heat: Head to the Beach.

Beach time is way more than just a thing to do. It’s a mindset. And best of all, it’s way COOL! So let’s get beachy! Begin by listing whatever comes to mind when you think of the beach. Here are a few things to get you thinking:

Frothy surf, bikinis, surfboards, sand, shells, waves, orange sherbet sunsets, coconut and cocoa butter, Frankie Avalon aka Moon Doggie . . .

Now you try. If “sand in your pants” is what Beach Time means to you, go with it. Create a poem using as many of those beachy words as you can. Here’s a little theme music to get you in a beachy mood: Da-na-nah-na-nah-nah-na…WiPE OUT!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1100 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Cousins appear in lots of books. In some versions of City Mouse/Country Mouse, the mice are cousins.

In The Secret Garden, young Mary Lennox meets her cousin Colin.

In Eight Cousins, orphaned Rose Campbell goes to live with her uncle—and seven boy cousins.

Do you have cousins? Are they older or younger? Do they live nearby or far away? When is the last time you saw them? How are they like you? How are they different?

Write a poem about your cousins—all of them or just a few. Tell a story about something you’ve done together or something you wish you could do.

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1100 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

Don’t think about it too much; just do it.

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1100 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.