NaPoWriMo Prompt 18

By on Apr 18, 2015 in Blog

Sculpture with phrases from poems all over the world

“Sculpture University of Houston” by Daniel Horande (https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielhorande/)

For Day 18 of the NaPoWriMo challenge, of the many available forms and poetic terms starting with “P,” we suggest that “P” is for “Prose poem.” A prose poem is not broken into lines (although it may be broken into paragraphs), but it demonstrates other characteristics of poetry, such as figures of speech, diction, or other literary devices like alliteration. A prose poem typically emphasizes thoughts, ideas and imagery over story-telling, which distinguishes it from flash fiction. My suggestion for this exercise would be to begin with free writing and then edit the poem down to only the most effective words and phrases. Visit the prose poem page on Poetry.com for links to many great examples.

Feel free to share your poem (or a link to your poem) in the comments.

The NaPoWriMo challenge is to write 30 poems in 30 days. See the official site, NaPoWriMo.net, for more.

About

Alyce Wilson is the editor of Wild Violet and in her copious spare time writes humor, non-fiction, fiction and poetry and infrequently keeps an online journal. Her first chapbook, Picturebook of the Martyrs; her e-book/pamphlet, Stay Out of the Bin! An Editor's Tips on Getting Published in Lit Mags ; her book of essays and columns, The Art of Life; her humorous nonfiction ebook, Dedicated Idiocy: How Monty Python Fandom Changed My Life, and her newest poetry collection, Owning the Ghosts, can all be ordered from her Web site, AlyceWilson.com. In late 2019, she published a volume of poetry by her third great-grandfather, Reading's Physician Poet: Poems by Dr. James Meredith Mathews, which also contains genealogical information about the Mathews family. She lives with her husband and son in the Philadelphia area and takes far too many photos of her handsome, creative son, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda.