Totally Optional Prompt: Unexpected visitors

They arrive at your house, in the middle of the night, on a fin afternoon, in the morning drizzle. You're happy to see them, love them but find the time inconvenient, they're the last people in the world you want to deal with right now. But you invite them in regardless.

Tell us what happens next, for this week's
Totally Optional
prompt! Linda will be here Wednesday evening with the request for poems. We don't know yet whether Mr. Linky will be with us or not.

Request for Poems: Song Lyrics

TOPers, did we have songs in our hearts this week?

If you don't see Mr. Linky, leave your link in the comments. He was working there for a while, but he seems to be down again.

Totally Optional Prompt: Song Lyrics

Some people don't consider song lyrics to be poetry. Others refuse to recognize the distinction.

Song lyrics usually fit a melody, which means they are usually metered. However, the meter is often looser than in, say a sonnet: as Tom Lehrer once wrote and sang, "it don't matter ifyoufitacoupleextrasyllables into a line." Song lyrics usually rhyme, although again the rhyme is often loose or slant. A songwriter can depend on the power of the melody to carry the listener past minor breaks in the sound pattern. And of course there are exceptions to all of the above.

For this week's

Totally Optional

prompt, write a poem you think would make a good song lyric. Come back Wednesday evening. I don't know if Mr. Linky will be with us or not, but if not, you can always leave your link in the comments.

Request for Poems: Opposites

Did opposites attract or repel this week, TOPers? Mr. Linky wants to know.

Update: Mr. Linky seems to be defunct for now. My guess is, the caching feature they recently implemented isn't playing well with Blogger. Feel free to leave a link in the comments instead :(

Update update: Republishing seems to have fixed it. *grumble, grumble*

Totally Optional Prompt: Opposites

What happens when opposites combine? Do you get something intermediate, like hot water and cold water blending to make lukewarm? Or do you get something completely different, like fire and water combining to make steam?

Watch for Mr. Linky Wednesday evening!

Request for Poems: Tardiness

Here's Mr. Linky, on time for once! to receive your tales of tardiness and woe, or whatever you chose to write about this week.

Totally Optional Prompt: Tardiness

Late again! This week's
Totally Optional
prompt is: Tardiness.

Mr. Linky will be here Wednesday evening.

Request for Poems: Going home again for the first time

Well, TOP enthusiasts, did we get a fresh look at the old place? Or were we inspired by something else entirely this week?

Totally Optional Prompt: Going home again for the first time

For this week's

Totally Optional

prompt, write about your hometown, the place you live, or some other place that's very familiar to you. But write about it as if you were seeing it for the first time.

Request for Poems: Exercise

Jumping jacks
Chin-ups
Push-ups
Pilates
none of the above

Tell us all about your exercising. Just leave a link in Mr. Linky to anything you'd like to share.

Tiel will be back Saturday night with a new prompt.

Totally Optional Prompt: Exercise

Two prompts this week as we head into the last few days of NaPoWriMo:

1. We need help! Please consider contributing a line to the collaborative sestina on Poem: a Virtual Poetry Group. We're about half way through and need some fresh ideas! Thanks. (Each new stanza repeats the last words from the previous stanza in the following pattern: 6 1 5 2 4 3)
   
   
2. Let's write about exercise this week. Love it? Hate it? Avoid it? Do it grudgingly? And there's exercises in school and it can also be used as a verb like to exercise caution, etc.

So, get your muscles moving those pens around or punching those computer keys and exercise your brains!

Mr. Linky will be up at 7 pm EDT on Wednesday evening. Please come back and share anything you'd like.

Request for Poems: Quotations

Did you find a way to incorporate a quote into your writing this week?

Mr. Linky is just sitting there waiting for your link to any poem you'd like to share.

Totally Optional Prompt: Quote

This week write a poem that is inspired by a quotation. The quote could be from a newpaper or magazine article or it could just be a quote that you like about life or anything.

Come back on Wednesday evening around 7 pm EDT to leave a link in the Mr. Linky thingie to any poem you'd like to share.

Happy writing!

Request for Poems: Photo Poems

I know one thing: I have too many pictures! This was harder than I thought it would be.

How did you do?

We'd love to see what you wrote this week so just leave a link in the Mr. Linky.