read write prompt #28: couples therapy for you and your imagination

Are you on speaking terms with your imagination? How well do the two of you really communicate? When was the last time you, well, you know, “loved” your imagination?

Although you could argue that all writing involves imagination because you create something new, this prompt isn’t about business as usual. It isn’t about the status quo or any other horrible cliche about Life As You Know It.

This week, you will get very intimate with your imagination, and in the act you will use muscles you never knew you had.

Write a poem about something that doesn’t exist. Invent a season. Discover a new species. Dream up an object that will revolutionize the beauty industry. I’m not one for rules, so there really are none, except throw yourself into it. In order to succeed, you and your imagination will have to function as one.

You know those games where you try to win at lying? Use poetry like that. Try really hard to convince us about the truth/reality of your subject. Bonus points if you create your very own form (a pattern of rhyme or repetition) as a container for the piece!

If collaboration is your thing, or even if you just really want to mess with your fellow poets, use the comments section here to issue a challenge to the Read Write Poem public. Dare us to write this piece without using certain words or parts of speech. Double dog dare us to include a bizarre word that’s near and dear to you. I have faith that the challenges will be tempting and that many of us are serious enough about making out up with our imaginations to accept one or more of the challenges.

~Carolee.

Oh, and come back in the wee hours of Monday (CST) to tell all (anytime during the week). You know you want to.

1. Kraken « Words that sing - May 27, 2008

[...] readwritepoem’s challenge to write a poem about something that doesn’t exist. It seems my imagination [...]


welcome to read write poem

Read Write Poem is an online gathering place for those who love poetry — and for those who suspect that, with a little nurturing, they could grow to love poetry. Whether you are new to writing poetry or have been writing for years, you are welcome here. If you don’t write poetry but love to read and discuss it, this is also the place for you. Read more about the project.


Get the Read Write Poem badge for your site! We have two versions to choose from. Just click on the badge to the left to snag the code.


read write poll

Tell us about your interest in publishing your poetry in literary journals: (Select all that apply.)

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

other read write poem joints

Facebook (sign up to be added to our mailing list)
Twitter (sign up to be part of impromptu collaborative poem events and to learn more about what's going on with Read Write Poem)

participant-run journals, zines and sites


  • read write poem newsfeed

      Issue 3 of Ouroboros Review is live and includes the work of Dustin Brookshire, James Brush, Joyce Ellen Davis, Michelle McGrane and Carolee Sherwood!

      (Did we miss you? Tell us! Email news (at) readwritepoem (dot) org. Or send us your news!)

      -----

      Dustin Brookshire's Queens of Poetry anthology submission deadline is Sept. 30. Go here for more information.

      -----

      "W.S. Merwin join[ed] Bill Moyers for a wide-ranging conversation about language, his writing process, the natural world, and the insights gleaned from a much-lauded career of more than 50 years."

      He also read a great many of the poems from this year's Pulitzer prize-winning The Shadow of Sirius, published by Copper Canyon Press.

      This excellent program aired on June 26 and is well-worth the watch. Find it here, on PBS.

      -----

      Dave Bonta wants to know: "Why do poets say 'O'?"

      -----

      You can find a video of John Walsh reading "Gash" for Ouroboros Review here and look for a new issue very soon!

      Ouroboros Review is a biannual poetry and art magazine that will include three John Walsh poems in the upcoming issue.

      -----

  • random
    poetry prompt

      A different word or phrase will appear here each time you visit the site or refresh the page. Your current prompt is — creep

  • random
    collaborating tip

    Send an interesting news item to a collaborator, and each of you write a poem based on the same story.


  • random
    writing tip

    Find a news story — maybe something well-known and controversial, maybe something obscure and bizarre — and write a poem based on those events.

  • random
    reading tip

    Savor the poem. Read it multiple times, slowly. You may even want to read small sections of it slowly, and give yourself a long pause after each to let the poem sink in. Read the poem at least once before you try to figure out its meaning or make any notes on it. Absorb the poem. Inhale its scent.

  • random
    poetry quote

    We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry. — Yeats