Inktober: 31 Days of Poems

I’m not really doing Inktober, which is for artists doing ink drawings that possibly stem from a daily prompt. That would be fun too and I did briefly consider it.

What I’m doing is using the Inktober prompts this year as random poetry prompts. The resulting poem may not seem related to the prompt but I promise I am immersing myself in the prompt for at least 30 minutes and maybe up to a day before writing the poem that comes through the prompting (or revising one that the prompt brings to mind). A few others things:

• • If I feel like it, I may accompany the poem with a photo or two, chosen only after the poem is written (i.e., the poem flows from the prompt, not the photo).
  • I will probably also “show my work” by listing some of the words, phrases, songs, associations that came to me for each prompt.
  • The poems may or may not have anything to do with gardens, gardening, or “nature” as it’s commonly considered.
  • These aren’t finished poems but drafts that will be reshaped as time goes on.

We’ll see how it goes. I’m already two days behind! … but backdating posts for chronological simplicity.

Here are all the prompts, which will be linked to the forthcoming poems when they’re written:

1. ring
2. mindless
3. bait
4. freeze
5. build
6. husky
7. enchanted
8. frail
9. swing
10. pattern
11. snow
12. dragon
13. ash
14. overgrown
15. legend
16. wild
17. ornament
18. misfit
19. sling
20. tread
21. treasure
22. ghost
23. ancient
24. dizzy
25. tasty
26. dark
27. coat
28. ride
29. injured
30. catch
31. ripe