30 Day Poetry Challenge
Get your pen ready. Grab your favorite poetry collection. Put your party hat on. April is National Poetry Month! Since its humble foundation by the American Academy of Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month has spread to the global community, and has become the world’s largest literary celebration. Schools, booksellers, and poets from all walks of life come together for an entire month to honor their favorite form of expression with truly inspiring results.
Wondering how you can participate? There are so many ways! It could something small, like sharing your favorite poem with a friend. It could be as big as organizing a poetry event in your community. This one belongs to the poets. It’s all about how you want to celebrate poetry.
We are celebrating with a 30 Poems in 30 Days Challenge! The PSPOETS team compiled a list of 30 poetry writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing. We will be posting one prompt a day all month long on our social feeds and stories. The writing prompts will be used as a guideline for our next poetry contest, which will be announced at the end of the month. Be sure to follow us to see the prompts and to stay updated on our contests and events!
Photo by Angelina Litvin
30 Poetry Prompts
1. Write a haiku about early mornings.
2. Where is home to you? Tell about a location or people you feel the most comfortable around. Paint a picture with words, capture what you see and feel.
3. Mimic a poem after one of your favorites, following punctuation and line breaks, but surrounding an original idea.
4. Describe a time when you were in nature and felt a connection with the earth. Write about your environment and how it moved you.
5. Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Tell a story about the places it’s been.
6. Write a poem from you pet’s perspective. If you don’t have a pet, choose your favorite animal.
7. Write about a place that you have traveled to that you absolutely fell in love with. Describe the place and why you enjoyed being there so much.
8. If love were a recipe, what would be the top 3 essential ingredients?
9. What is the universal meaning of Spring?
10. Describe a desert. What are the flavors? Does the taste remind you of something from your past?
11. Take the third line from your last 14 text messages sent and arrange them into a contemporary sonnet.
12. Write about the seasons as if they were people. How do they feel?
13. Pick something in your life that you are grateful for. Write about how fortunate you are to have that thing in your life and why.
14. Think about a time when you have harmed someone. Write them a poem apologizing.
15. Use vivid imagery to write about a tree in a forest. Describe what the environment feels like, the colors, the scent of the leaves.
16. Think about the outdoors after it rains. Place yourself in the setting and describe what it's like.
17. Find a friend. Write a collaborative poem that is at least 12 lines. Take turns by having one person write a line, then switch until you feel it is complete.
18. Listen to your favorite song and use it as a foundation of rhythm and flow to create a contemporary poem. Only write while listening to the track.
19. Write about a textile in your home and the character it brings to the space.
20. Turn your phone off for the day and every time you have an urge to check it, write a line until you feel a poem is finished.
21. 21 Questions. Write a poem using only questions (21 to be exact) about a feeling, person, or topic you would like to know more about.
22. Write a poem that takes readers through a week in your life. Embrace the mundane, the excitement, and everything in between.
23. Choose an inanimate object. Write from its point of view. Have it questions its purpose and the meaning of existence.
24. Think about a person you have lost that meant a great deal to you. Try as best you can to write about what they mean to you.
25. Write a poem about your most vivid memory last summer. Describe as many details as possible and how you felt.
26. What is one thing you cannot go too long without? Write about something you cannot give up no matter how hard you try.
27. Observe or research a flower or plant and use it as a metaphor, or subject, of your poem.
28. Sit in a coffee shop and write what you see.
29. Who is your favorite poet? What would you tell them if you had a chance to meet them? Write a poem about what you would say.
30. Find a contest online with a specific theme or guidelines and write a poem specifically for it.
Photo by Ilya Pavlov
Now, you are ready start writing! We would love to read your poems inspired by these prompts! Tag us on social media using the hashtag #pspoetsprompt for a chance to be featured in our stories!
