Mahima Nagaraju
Some poems come from words carefully collected over days and weeks, their placement in a sentence tried and tested, maybe left to mature in a jar for months; other poems arrive like lightning, and you, holding the jar, might catch it. A project to mark National Poetry Writing Month, started by American poet Maureen Thorson in 2003, prescribes to neither of these ideas – instead challenging poets to write a poem each day, following a different prompt.
Whether you forget these drafts exist or choose to cut, sort, spice up and let them deepen their flavours is up to you, but here are some prompts curated by CE and volunteered by Bengaluru’s poets to help you get started.
Pranav VS, writer, assistant professor
A prompt I like to give is ‘bakery smells in my street’. It is local and a sensory thing we don’t come across as much as we did anymore. I remember the bakery in my area sending out an invitation in the form of egg puffs’ smell every time I crossed it to do some other chore. It inevitably dragged me to the bakery and made me give in. It is just far away enough in memory for us to desire that time, so you can work with it without too much wrestling.
Food for thought: The official NaPoWriMo prompts are well thought out but my struggle with them is how they are programmed for a universal experience. I wonder what would happen if our prompts were shaped to be more local. Because the textures of experience changes with so little and yet I’m sure we could preserve the universal in those personal, local feelings as well. What would happen reversing the way we write it? I’m curious to know.
Shaista Yacoob, poet
Write a poem that begins with a mundane, ordinary object like a cup, a window or a piece of clothing and allow it to shift naturally into something more intangible like a memory, a fear or a desire. Begin with a single emotion, turn it over, examine its nuances and explore both its heights and depths, then let it flow into abstract or unexplored emotions.
Food for thought: Writing a poem a day is demanding yet rewarding, but my process is more intuitive and authentic expression flows without structure. These prompts, however, can be a valuable tool when you’re stuck and want to spark direction. Remember that most emotions and topics have been written about, but what matters is your unique perception and interpretation. Do not think about pleasing others’ ears, it should be pleasing to you first.
Getting Started
Try these first lines by iconic poets as prompts for your own poems (reading them, too, would help)
‘Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight?’ (Tonight, Agha Shahid Ali)
‘Lord, when you send the rain, think about it, please, a little?’ (Untitled, James Baldwin)
‘I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead’ (Mad Girl’s Love Song, Sylvia Plath)
‘The almanac of time hangs in the brain’ (The Almanac of Time, Dylan Thomas)
‘There is a house now far away where once’ (My Grandmother’s House, Kamala Das