Prompt: Hurricane Season

Tropical storm season officially starts tomorrow, June 1, but we've already had our first one of the year: Arthur.

For this week's

Totally Optional

prompt, write about storms or hurricanes. Get into the sensory detail. Talk about the color of the sky, the taste of the air, the feel of the breeze. Have you ever been close enough to a lightning strike to smell ozone?

Mike will be your host for the month of June. Remember, if you have any suggestions for a prompt, feel free to leave them in a comment or email one of us.

Request for Poems: Absent Friends

In keeping with this week's theme, a big Welcome Back! to no-longer-absent friend Sue of Tumblewords.

Prompt: Absent Friends

Sorry for the late prompt! We had thunderstorms and power outages at our house last night and I thought it wisest to leave the computer off.

For this week's

Totally Optional

prompt, write about someone who's missing from your or someone else's life. Either or both could be a real or an imaginary person. Try to make the person who's missing (rather than the narrator of the poem) the focus of interest. Try to make them real and alive.

Request for Poems: Triolet

Did you write a triolet this week? Or did you decide to do something else altogether? It doesn't matter as long as it's poetry!

Prompt: Triolet

So what exactly is a triolet? Here are the rules, according Poets.org.

The attraction of the triolet is that it's short: there are only eight lines total, and five unique lines. But the essence of the triolet is not only repetition, but surprise in repetition. The challenge is to make the repeat lines mean different things, instead of simply repeating them.

You can change the relationship of the words in the repeat lines to the lines before and after, by manipulating the punctuation. Also, as with other repetitive forms such as villanelles and sestinas, modern poetic conventions allow the repeat lines to vary a little. Of course, if you let them vary too much, you lose the impact.

Read some fine example triolets

and remember it's

Totally Optional

!

Request for Poems: Symbolic Poetry

TOPers, what's cooking in the symbol kitchen?

Prompt: Symbolic Poetry

Sorry for the late prompt! We went out of town unexpectedly yesterday and had a wrangle with the phone company earlier today.

For this week's

Totally Optional

prompt, write a poem in which something or things represents some other thing or things. You could use an object to symbolize an idea. Or a taste to represent a feeling. Or a color to stand in for an animal.

You can let the poem make clear what's being represented. Or not. Invite your readers to use their imaginations.

Request for Poems: Transformation

TOPers, did we get out there and make some changes happen? Or were we inspired by something else altogether this week?

Prompt: Transformation

This week's

Totally Optional

prompt: Write a poem in which something is transformed into something completely different.

Air into water. Flesh into glass. Furniture into livestock. Politics into a gavotte.

Request For Poems 'Like a Cowbird'

It's time to throw your poem on the table, and see what the other poets have in their hands. The Linky widget included with this posting is a fine way to leave a link to your poem inspired by the 'Like a Cowbird' prompt, or any other poem you want to share. Comments are available if Linky doesn't work for you, or you want to add encouraging remarks, or any other remarks.

I'm through for a while so Saturday night Tiel Aisha Ansari will put up the next Totally Optional Prompt. And, thanks for your support.

The Totally Optional Prompt is 'Like a Cowbird'

Cowbirds are brood parasites, they go to the nest of another specie, such as a song sparrow, toss out an egg and lay one of their own. The song sparrow then raises the cowbird chick. The aspect I find fascinating is that the cowbird grows up and knows it's a cowbird and not a sparrow. It talks like a cowbird, hangs out with cowbirds, and knows to lay its eggs in other bird's nests. It seems to learn nothing from its 'parents'. The challenge this week is to write 'like a cowbird'.

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Remarks on the prompt, your latest poetry discovery, or this 'poetry exchange' blog can be made as comments to this posting. Late Wednesday night, between one rerun and another, I'll post a Request For Poems, where you can leave a link to your poem inspired by the prompt, or any other poem you want to share.

Request For Poems 'Late Spring'

It's time to throw your hat in the ring, and see what the other poets have on their minds. The Linky widget included with this posting is a fine way to leave a link to your poem inspired by the 'Late Spring' prompt, or any other poem you want to share. Comments are available if Linky doesn't work for you, or you want to add encouraging remarks, or any other remarks.

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The drama this week was a truck accident that took out the 'fiber' that connects me to the outside world. All day Tuesday I was uncertain whether I'd be here tonight. I don't know what happened to the truck.
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Saturday night I'll put up the next Totally Optional Prompt. And, thanks for your support.

The Totally Optional Prompt is 'Late Spring'

Spring has been late this year, and the spring migration's too. Today we got cloudy, cold, snow, and slush. My social life is in a chill too. The challenge this week is the big chill, cold weather, and 'late spring'.

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And, Billy Jones is running the 'poet laureate of the blogosphere' competition at the Blogging Poet . Voting opens Apr 21 and ends Apr 29th. Several TOP regulars have been nominated.

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Remarks on the prompt, your latest poetry discovery, or this 'poetry exchange' blog can be made as comments to this posting. Late Wednesday night, between one rerun and another, I'll post a Request For Poems, where you can leave a link to your poem inspired by the prompt, or any other poem you want to share.

Request For Poems

It's time to throw your cards in the ring, and see what the other poets have in their hands. The Linky widget included with this posting is a fine way to leave a link to your poem inspired by the 'A Person' prompt, or any other poem you want to share. Comments are available if Linky doesn't work for you, or you want to add encouraging remarks, or any other remarks.

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The Poetry Super Highway is sponsoring another Great Poetry E-Book Free-For-All. They are collecting E-Books this month and will provide a free poetry exchange on May 1. Check the above link for details.

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Saturday night I'll put up the next Totally Optional Prompt. And, thanks for your support.