What jumps out at different people from this prompt may vary, but two things strike me as especially interesting:
- the plural (poems and notes, not just poem or note)
- you (who is 'you' in this situation - and what might this tell us about the speaker?)
What you produce today may therefore suggest multiple poems and/or notes to a single 'you' - which could be a parent, child, lover, friend, admired celebrity, someone who is now deceased...
Think, too, about why multiple poems and notes might be important to your poem's concept.
Plus, what form(s) might these poems and notes take? And why is the speaker of your poem writing them?
'You' could also be multiple people - so perhaps consider addressing a group if you are struggling to think of a single person to be the subject of your poem.
As the image prompt above also shows, 'notes' might also suggest musical notes as much as Post-It notes!
Suggested forms
To me, 'notes' implies something slight and fleeting, so in terms of suggested form, I'd like to propose a poetic structure that reflects this - maybe a tanka or cinquain.
Everyone knows about haikus, but a tanka is another five-line form of Japanese poetry. As you can see from www.familyfriendpoems.com, it starts off like a haiku (thanks to the 5-7-5 syllable format), before ending with two lines of 7 syllables each. Great to ease you into this month of poetry!
Cinquains are equally brief, with their five lines consisting of 1 word, then 2, then 3, then 4, before ending with a 1-word line.
Word prompts
sing
redrafts
practice
scribbles
loving
And to finish, a quotation that might inspire you, from the great Robert Frost:
Happy writing!
-- Bianca
Remember that our prompts are only suggestions - go wherever the muse takes you.
In the meantime, read other participants' poems, share the #octpowrimo hashtag on social media, and add your link to your own poem in the comments below.
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