Writing Prompt

Call & Response

Hi, Friend.

Recently I shared a handwritten annotation of my poem “Sky.” This is one of a series of poems in Good Bones that was inspired by one of my then-preschooler’s questions: “Why is the sky so tall and over everything?” I used her question as an epigraph, but more than that, the question is what made the poem possible. It opened the door behind which I found, through drafts and revisions, the poem.

Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite ways to start a new poem or essay: a writing prompt that’s especially useful when I’m feeling less than inspired. We all get stuck sometimes. Here’s one way I get unstuck.