Greetings, writers—
It’s National Poetry Month! And the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron’s death! And the day Taylor Swift surprised everyone with a double album (my kids care about this)! It is also my birthday, which so far I am celebrating by having cookies for breakfast and not writing a 500-word Substack post. While I no longer wish for a horse, I’m going to start that business right up again as soon as I finish my half-written novel.
Today’s writing prompt is this:
Pick one of the ten lines below, and then write from it. You can use it as a first line, a last line, or a title; you can answer its question or argue against it; whatever.
And please read the poem that the line belongs to, because what month is it? That’s right, it’s National Poetry Month. And it goes without saying that if you find a line you like better in whatever poem it is, use that line instead.
Imagine you wake up/with a second chance. Read more here.
The flames only pass us by. Read more here.
What will become of you and me? Read more here. 1
And now I would do anything/for a problem I could solve. Read more here.
april is the cruelest month etc. Read more here.
The heart is the smaller cousin of the sun. Read more here.
Listen, I, too, believed it was a dream. Read more here.
Do not trust the eraser. Read more here.
Lay your sleeping head, my love/Human on my faithless arm. Read more here. 2
I can’t stand myself. Read more here. 3
Happy writing!
Emily
I’ve shared this one before. It used to make me cry if I read it aloud.
This could be a hard line to work with, but it reminds me of a terrible, beautiful moment in Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair so I had to include it.
Love Brenda, love this poem. It’s called A Poet’s Poem, but it’s for all writers!
Happy birthday!!