Ah, those summer days and nights that most of us love are drawing to a close. Many of us are gearing up for a new school year either for our kids or ourselves. And those of us who are poets may be getting ready for one of the best writing times of the year as days here in the Northern Hemisphere give way to chilly air and we hunker down indoors.
We may put our gardens to bed, stash the lawn furniture and air out the tent, but our creativity has a whole new opportunity for waking. The removal of all those summer distractions allows an unfettered return to the page, both the ones we write and the ones we read.
With that in mind, Gyroscope Review has begun a new Sunday series of writing prompts called Cultivate: Writing Prompts for Poets. We all need a little nudge sometimes, and that’s exactly what these prompts are – little nudges. We will post one word, two words, occasionally a phrase across our social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) with the hashtags #GRcultivatepoetry and #promptsforpoets. And then it’s up to the poets out there to take those prompts and see what happens.
Work those ideas, brainstorm, go beyond the first thought. Dig deeply, arrange those words, rearrange them, let them simmer.
And then? Submit the ones you don’t post online. Send them to us, send them to other poetry publications, read them at slams, spread poetry to the people through the channels that don’t require a login to Facebook or Instagram. Go outside of all those social media feeds to reach people who are feeling fatigue, who are looking for art and verse that satisfies them beyond the next 30 seconds.
Now, more than ever, we need poets who get their work out there for readers, who add meat to the conversation.
We are just giving you something to whet your appetites.
📱If you want to see the full list of our prompts on Twitter (@gyroscopereview), simply search for the hashtag #GRcultivatepoetry. You’ll also find our list of 10 things to do with our prompts.
photos courtesy of Pixabay.com