Writing Prompts for Earth Day 2016

American Life in Poetry: Column 456

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE 

For Earth Day, I thought I would bring up a beautiful poem from Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry. 

First, read Kooser's comments and the poem below. The prompts will follow the poem. 

American Life in Poetry: Column 456

Many of us feel a great sense of pride as we watch our children discover the world for the first time. Here, Kathleen Driskell, a Kentucky poet, shows us her own daughter taking that first taste of a late summer watermelon she has grown herself. 

Seed  by Kathleen Driskell

In first grade, you met Squanto,

nearly naked and

on his haunches, showing

those thick-headed pilgrims

how one must plant fish

to grow maize. And in autumn

you dove into the lobotomized

pumpkin, into the gooey pulp

and seeds, raising a clump

like a slimy chandelier

from the Titanic. And now

in late summer, daughter,

you smile, holding a ripe watermelon,

cut in half, exposing the black

seed within its bright red heart.

Your melon. How proud you are

to think you grew this delicious

thing all on your own.

You can read more poems from the column at this link American Life in Poetry

Earth Day Writing Prompts

Poetry and Nonfiction

1. Write about a memory of yourself as a child (or a child you know or have known) having an active or proud moment connected to nature. It can be catching a fish, climbing a tree, or ?????

Free write about this moment for about 5 minutes.

2. After your free-writing, form your ideas into a poem or a short memoir. Use the word bright in your poem (any other word that means bright) as an adjective not to describe the child, but to describe something from nature that is in the poem. 

Fiction

Think of a character for the little girl in the poem. Give her a name and personality. Write a short story about her and the watermelon. Make the watermelon seeds magical and make something interesting happen!

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For Discussion:

1. What are the three scenes in this poem?

2. Which two seasons are mentioned in the poem? 

3. Why do you think the poem is called "Seed"?

Earth Day Creative Writing Prompts

Happy Earth Day!

Below is last week's column from American Life in Poetry.  I chose Linda Hogan's poem "The Sandhills" for your enjoyment.  I hope you like the poem.

Creative Writing Prompts

Fiction:  Write a short story that starts with 2 characters watching sandhill cranes.  Where are the characters?  What are they talking about?  Note:  This can be written as drama, too. 

Poetry:  Write a poem with a bird in it.  10 lines or less.

Nonfiction:  Reflect on watching birds.  If you are fortunate to look out your window and see a bird, just observe for a few minutes, then reflect on life via a journal entry.

Free write prompt starters from Hogan's poem:

From the following lines, free-write for 3 minutes and see what you get!

1.  The wind is. . .

2.  The shine of water. . .

3.  Above strands of earth. . .



Commentary by Ted Kooser, from American Life in Poetry

This column originates in Nebraska, and our office is about two hours’ drive from that stretch of the Platte River where thousands of sandhill cranes stop for a few weeks each year. Linda Hogan, one of our most respected Native writers and Writer in Residence for The Chickasaw Nation, perfectly captures their magic and mystery in this fine poem. 

The Sandhills  by Linda Hogan

The language of cranes

we once were told

is the wind. The wind

is their method,

their current, the translated story

of life they write across the sky.

Millions of years

they have blown here

on ancestral longing,

their wings of wide arrival,

necks long, legs stretched out

above strands of earth

where they arrive

with the shine of water,

stories, interminable

language of exchanges

descended from the sky

and then they stand,

earth made only of crane

from bank to bank of the river

as far as you can see

the ancient story made new.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem reprinted from Sing: Poetry from the Indigenous Americas, Ed. by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, The Univ. of Arizona Press, 2011, by permission of Linda Hogan and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2013 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Creative Writing Prompts at Shoal Creek

Chert Glades 008, a photo by jsigler on Flickr.

Creative Writing Prompts

Above is a beautiful picture of Shoal Creek.  Below is a poem, "Crossing Shoal Creek."  For today's creative writing prompts, we will use the photo and the poem for inspiration.

Fiction Writing:  Write the beginning of a short story that takes place in the setting of the picture.  Write for at least 10 minutes without stopping.

Creative Nonfiction:  Do you have any memories of any creek?  If so, write about them.

Poetry Prompt:  Write a poem that ends with the line, "so close we could have touched."  You can title your poem, "Poem Ending With a Line by J.T. Ledbetter," or credit the line in a note at the end of the poem. 

5-Minute Free Writes
Writing Starters: 

Write with the following phrases as your starting points.  All phrases are from J.T. Ledbetter's poem. 

1.  I waited for you to. . .
2.  Like mists off the. . .
3.  There was only the rain on the. . .

Enjoy the column below.  It was last week's feature, and I was so moved by it I wanted to post it here.  Thank you to this wonderful project that allows the article to be shared.  I love this program and hope it will live forever. 



American Life in Poetry Column #343 by Ted Kooser, Poet Laureate of the U.S.

Most of us have received the delayed news of the death of a family member or friend, and perhaps have reflected on lost opportunities. Here’s a fine poem by J. T. Ledbetter, who lives in California but grew up on the Great Plains.

Crossing Shoal Creek by J.T. Ledbetter


The letter said you died on your tractor
crossing Shoal Creek.
There were no pictures to help the memories fading
like mists off the bottoms that last day on the farm
when I watched you milk the cows,
their sweet breath filling the dark barn as the rain
that wasn’t expected sluiced through the rain gutters.
I waited for you to speak the loud familiar words
about the weather, the failed crops—
I would have talked then, too loud, stroking the Holstein
moving against her stanchion—
but there was only the rain on the tin roof,
and the steady swish-swish of milk into the bright bucket
as I walked past you, so close we could have touched.


American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2010 by J.T. Ledbetter, and reprinted from his most recent book of poetry, Underlying Premises, Lewis Clark Press, 2010, by permission of J.T. Ledbetter and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Writing Prompts with Sisters and a Cafe

Café Tortoni, en Avenida de mayo, Buenos Aires

Robert Fiadone

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you have probably figured out by now that I love Ted Kooser's weekly column "American Life in Poetry."  I think he picks quality, accessible poems ,and often they inspire me.  I plan to feature the columns from time to time because a lot of these poems make great writing prompts.  Enjoy this week's poem "More Lies" by Karin Gottshall, and you will find the prompts below. 

American Life in Poetry by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate

Some of us have more active fantasy lives than others, but all of us have them. Here Karin Gottshall, who lives in Vermont, shares a variety of loneliness that some of our readers may have experienced.

More Lies by Karin Gottshall

Sometimes I say I’m going to meet my sister at the café—

even though I have no sister—just because it’s such

a beautiful thing to say. I’ve always thought so, ever since

I read a novel in which two sisters were constantly meeting

in cafés. Today, for example, I walked alone

on the wet sidewalk, wearing my rain boots, expecting

someone might ask where I was headed. I bought

a steno pad and a watch battery, the store windows

fogged up. Rain in April is a kind of promise, and it costs

nothing. I carried a bag of books to the café and ordered

tea. I like a place that’s lit by lamps. I like a place

where you can hear people talk about small things,

like the difference between azure and cerulean,

and the price of tulips. It’s going down. I watched

someone who could be my sister walk in, shaking the rain

from her hair. I thought, even now florists are filling

their coolers with tulips, five dollars a bundle. All over

the city there are sisters. Any one of them could be mine.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2010 by Karin Gottshall, whose most recent book of poetry is Crocus, Fordham University Press, 2007. Poem reprinted from the New Ohio Review, No. 8, Fall 2010, by permission of Karin Gottshall and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

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Fiction Prompts:

We have done story starters before to generate fiction, but today's story starters involve you filling in a blank and then going from there.  These starter lines are inspired by today's poem. 

1.  He likes a place that is lit by __________________ . . .

2.  He watched someone who could be her ________________ walk in . . .

3.  She carried a bag of __________________ to the __________________ . . .

Poetry Prompt:

I love the line, "Rain in April is a kind of promise/that costs nothing."  Think about nature and the months and what kind of promises that cost nothing.  Make a list of about 5 things, and then pick one to write a poem about.

Essay Prompt:

If you could add one thing to your life that doesn't exist, what would it be?  Why?  Write about it.

Picture Prompt: 

Look at today's picture and write a scene between two people inside the cafe. This can be done in fiction or drama. 

A Room From Your Past

Creative Writing Prompts Inspired by Ted Kooser:

A Room From Your Past

Today we are going to be thinking not of houses from our past, but rooms.  Start by making a list of 10 or more rooms you remember from your past.   They don't need to be places you lived in; they could be rooms in places you visited, a cottage you might have stayed at, a hospital room, a room from a school, etc.  

After you make your list, and only after you make your list, read Ted Kooser's poem, "A Room in the Past." 

Here are some simple reflections and study questions to help you take in the poem and notice how it works:

Study Guide and Questions to "A Room in the Past" by Ted Kooser. 

1.  Notice how everything describing the poem is concrete until you get to line 5.  What is abstract about line 5?

2.  Look at lines 9 & 10.  There are phrases of time in both.  In line 9, it is "just" to imply something had just happened, but what is the time phrase in line 10? 

3.  Look in lines 13 and 14 and notice how Kooser brings the outside into the room.  What three words are things that are from nature?

4.  On line 14, the poet makes a personal connection by mentioning someone. Who is it?  Why do you think the poet mentions this toward the end of the poem?

5.  In lines 15 - 17, a supernatural and abstract concept are combined.  Then the poem is finished off with a very concrete image, which brings it all to life and makes it all real.  What is the concrete image?

6.  How many adjectives are in the poem?  You will notice there aren't many and they aren't fancy.  Remember, don't overdo adjectives and adverbs in your poems.  Be aware of every one you use to make sure it is truly adding to the poem and moving it along. 

7.  Notice how in line 3, Kooser uses the word "you" to draw the audience in.  Do you think this is effective?


Poetry Prompts:  

1.  Pick a room from your list and work on a poem that includes some elements of nature and/or the supernatural.  Address the audience as "you" in the early part of the poem, just like Kooser did.  Bring a person into the poem (and that person can be you), but not until the poem is at least half way finished.

OR

2.  Write a poem that ends with  "Turning his/her back on the rest of us, forever."  When you are finished, you may want to rewrite your last line so it is not exactly like Kooser's last line, but for now, use it as your guide. 

Fiction Prompt:

1.  Write a story that takes place in one of the rooms from your list.  Add an element of the supernatural to your story.  Write a minimum of 300 words. 

OR

2.  Write a story that starts with an opening scene in the kitchen from the picture. 

Creative Nonfiction:

Write a memory about one of the rooms on your list.  Write a minimum of 300 words.

Writing Prompts About Uniforms

Before posting your weekend writing prompts, I'm going to post this week's American Life in Poetry column because I think the poem is excellent. 

This week's TED KOOSER'S "American Life in Poetry" Column # 324

Here is a fine poem by my fellow Nebraskan, Barbara Schmitz, who here offers us a picture of people we’ve all observed but haven’t thought to write about.

Uniforms
by Barbara Schmitz

It is very hot—92 today—to be wearing

a stocking cap, but the adolescent swaggering

through the grocery store automatic door

doesn’t seem to mind; does not even appear

to be perspiring. The tugged-down hat

is part of his carefully orchestrated outfit:

bagging pants, screaming t-shirt, high-topped

shoes. The young woman who yells to her friends

from an open pickup window is attired

for summer season in strapless stretch

tube top, slipping down toward bountiful

cleavage valley. She tugs it up in front

as she races toward the two who have

just passed a cigarette between them

like a baton on a relay team. Her white

chest gleams like burnished treasure

as they giggle loudly there in the corner

and I glance down to see what costume

I have selected to present myself to

the world today. I smile; it’s my sky blue

shirt with large deliberately faded Peace sign,

smack dab in the middle, plus grey suede

Birkenstocks—a message that “I lived through

the sixties and am so proud.” None of the

young look my way. I round the corner and

walk into Evening descending.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2009 by Barbara Schmitz, whose most recent book of poems is How Much Our Dancing Has Improved, Backwaters Press, 2005. Poem reprinted from the South Dakota Review, Vol. 47, no. 3, 2009, by permission of Barbara Schmitz and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

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Creative Nonfiction Prompt:  Think about all the real uniforms you have worn in your life.  Make a list of them.  For me, my first uniform for a job was a polyester navy blue zip-up shirt with ruffled short plaid sleeves.  It bore the emblem "Tastee Freeze."  They weren't too bad, actually.  At another job I had, I wore a white lab coat everyday, but due to the nature of the work getting the lab coat so dirty, I eventually got navy blue lab coats instead.  I never had to wear a school uniform or camp uniform and I never was a Brownie or Girl Scout.  I did play softball for a short time in high school, and if we had uniforms, I do not remember. 

After you make your list, decide if you want to write a themed piece based on the different uniforms you have worn in your life, or if you want to just focus on one.  Write about the uniform and connect it to your life at the time you had to wear it.  You can also write about a uniform your siblings, spouse or children wore. 

Fiction Writing Practice:  Create a character who loves his or her job, but HATES the uniform.  What is the job?  What does the uniform look like?  What kind of uniform would your character like to have instead? 

Poetry Prompt:  Write a poem about a person that tells us about the kind of person he or she is by the way the person is dressed.  This can be a random person you see out on your walk, at the bus stop, etc.  Or it can be a person you know. 

Free Write Prompt:  What costume have you "selected to present yourself to the world today?"

"I AM" Poetry Prompt

© Carlos Sanchez Pereyra | Dreamstime.com

For today's free-write prompt, you can write anything that comes from the picture.  Time yourself for 5 minutes and write without stopping. 

And now, I am going to encourage everybody to try their hand at a poetry prompt today.  I have used the "I AM" poetry exercise over the years with children and adults, and this is something that everyone can do.  You can use this prompt again and again, and you will get something different every time because we are always in a different spot at different phases of our lives.  I have suggested that people do this poem every year to mark the celebration of their birthdays. 

I was happy to see that Ted Kooser featured an example of the "I AM" poem in his column a few weeks ago. The form is below, and below that the form, I have inserted the Kooser article with an example "I AM" poem.  Please feel free to post part of your poem (or all of it) in the comment section today.

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I AM POEM (fill in the blacks with the directions.  Be as unusual as you dare!)

I am     (Two special characteristics you have)
I wonder     (something you are actually be curious about)
I hear     (an imaginary or actual sound)
I see     (an imaginary or actual sight)
I want     (a desire)
I am     (the first line of the poem is repeated)
  
I pretend     (something you actually pretend to do)
I feel     (Something imaginary)
I touch     (an imaginary touch)
I worry     (something that really worries you)
I cry     (something that makes you sad)
I am     (the first line of the poem is repeated)
  
I understand     (something you know to be true)
I say     (something you believe in)
I dream     (something you actually dream about)
I try     (something you make an effort to do)
I hope     (something you hope for)
I am     (the first line of the poem repeated)


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American Life in Poetry: Column 319
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Here’s a poem in which eight-year-old Ava Schicke, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska, tells us just who she is and what she thinks.

I am

I am a daughter and a sister.
I wonder when I will die.
I hear the warm weather coming.
I see stars in the day.
I want to learn my whole ballet dance.
I am a daughter and a sister.

I pretend to be a teacher at home.
I feel like I am a teacher.
I touch hands that are growing.
I worry that I will never change.
I cry when something or someone dies.
I am a daughter and a sister.

I understand that teachers work hard for students.
I say that I don’t like bullies.
I dream about me not moving while trying really hard to run.
I try to become a good friend.
I hope that there is no more dying or killing.
I am a daughter and a sister.

Earth Day Creative Writing Prompts with Peace in Wild Things

© Paul Schneider | Dreamstime.com

Because Friday is Earth Day, and it is still National Poetry Month, I thought I would share one of Ted Kooser's earlier column's from American Life in Poetry.  Please enjoy the column which features a poem by Wendell Berry, and your prompts will be waiting for you below.

American Life in Poetry: Column 17

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Nearly all of us spend too much of our lives thinking about what has happened, or worrying about what's coming next. Very little can be done about the past and worry is a waste of time. Here the Kentucky poet Wendell Berry gives himself over to nature.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Wendell Berry, "The Peace of Wild Things" from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry. Copyright © 1998. Published and reprinted by arrangement with Counterpoint Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group (http://www.perseusbooks.com/). All rights reserved. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Poetry Writing Prompt:

Wendell Berry ends his poem, "I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

What is the grace of the world to you?  Write about the grace of the world as it relates to nature with a poem titled, "The Grace of the World."

Fiction Writing Prompt:

Write a scene where a character discovers some peace in something wild, something from nature.  What was the conflict the character was facing, and how did nature bring him or her to ease?  Show us all that in your writing.

Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompt:

Pick something in nature you truly enjoy and write about how it enriches your life.

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Creative Writing Prompts with the Decorah Eaglets

Creative Writing Prompts

If you haven't see the Decorah Eaglets, you have to take a minute to watch this video.  I think it is just an amazing project to have a web cam follow the life of these beautiful creatures.

Fiction Writing Prompt:  Write a short story that starts out with a character observing a live creature in nature.

Creative Nonfiction:  Write about a strong connection you have had from observing an animal and how it influenced you. 

Poetry Writing Prompt:  Write a poem about an animal that is endangered or has been endangered.  See the poem below for  inspiration. 

Song Writing Prompt:  Write a song about animals who have become or are becoming extinct. 

BONUS!

Since it is National Poetry Month, I've inserted a Ted Kooser column from American Life in Poetry that features a strong and sad poem about many endangered species by poet Charles Harper Webb.  You can use this to jump start a poem of your own if you'd like. 

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American Life in Poetry: Column 203

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

To read in the news that a platoon of soldiers has been killed is a terrible thing, but to learn the name of just one of them makes the news even more vivid and sad. To hold the name of someone or something on our lips is a powerful thing. It is the badge of individuality and separateness. Charles Harper Webb, a California poet, takes advantage of the power of naming in this poem about the steady extinction of animal species.

The Animals are Leaving

One by one, like guests at a late party   

They shake our hands and step into the dark:   

Arabian ostrich; Long-eared kit fox; Mysterious starling.

One by one, like sheep counted to close our eyes,   

They leap the fence and disappear into the woods:   

Atlas bear; Passenger pigeon; North Island laughing owl;   

Great auk; Dodo; Eastern wapiti; Badlands bighorn sheep.

One by one, like grade school friends,   

They move away and fade out of memory:   

Portuguese ibex; Blue buck; Auroch; Oregon bison;   

Spanish imperial eagle; Japanese wolf; Hawksbill   

Sea turtle; Cape lion; Heath hen; Raiatea thrush.

One by one, like children at a fire drill, they march outside,   

And keep marching, though teachers cry, “Come back!”   

Waved albatross; White-bearded spider monkey;   

Pygmy chimpanzee; Australian night parrot;   

Turquoise parakeet; Indian cheetah; Korean tiger;   

Eastern harbor seal ; Ceylon elephant ; Great Indian rhinoceros.

One by one, like actors in a play that ran for years   

And wowed the world, they link their hands and bow   

Before the curtain falls.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright © 2006 by Charles Harper Webb. Reprinted from “Amplified Dog,” by Charles Harper Webb, published by Red Hen Press, 2006, by permission of the author and publisher. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.