The Poetry Marathon

Autobiography of a Face is a famous memoir by the poet Lucy Grealy. I always thought it was excellent and intriguing title as it can be interpreted in so many ways.

For hour 10 your prompt is to write a poem with the title Autobiography Of A Face.

Set a timer. Write whatever comes in to your head for 5 minutes as fast as you can. Don’t delete anything you type, and don’t bother to spell check. It is all about getting the words down on the paper.

After the 5 minutes are up start editing what you have. Feel free to cut and add material as needed. Try to spend at least 15 minutes, if not longer, editing the piece.

Write a poem with the phrase “we need” reoccurring throughout it. Repeat the phrase at least five times in the poem.

Write a poem that contains primarily visual images.

Really focus on creating striking and lasting images. The images can be connected or disconnected.

Use one of the following three images as inspiration to write a poem.

Write a persona poem. A persona poem is when you write from the perspective of someone else; e.g. not your own perspective. That person can be imagined, or someone you know personally, or alternatively the poem can be from the perspective of a famous individual. That person can be alive or dead or even fictional.

Write a poem that belongs to a specific genre, ie: a science fiction poem, a fantasy poem, a romance poem, etc. . . Feel free to use cliches, or subvert them!

Write a poem about fishing. It doesn’t matter if you have never been fishing before. The poem must contain at least three lines that involve fishing. Everything else is up to you.

Write a poem that contains at least three of following five phrases.

“good morning”

“be honest”

“treasure island”

“soft moonlight”

“after hours”

Good Morning (or afternoon, or evening, depending on your time zone) poetry marathoners.

Below is your first prompt. Feel free to use it now, come back to it later, or ignore it entirely. Good Luck!

Your first prompt is to write a poem set entirely underwater.