Poetry Prompts | Listeners Unite

Listeners Unite!

Listening-Themed Poetry Prompts

Whether you're an experienced poet or someone who's never considered writing a poem, I hope you'll enjoy exploring these listening-themed poetry prompts. (If a prompt gets you going and your wiring takes another direction, that's okay. Listen to your own creative instincts.) :)

Write a group poem. There are several ways to write group poems. One is for you to write a line and then to pass the poem, in progress, to the next person, who passes it along, and so on. The poem can include one line per person or circle around again, and it can end with the last person or circle back to you to write the final line. Work together, as a group, on a title.(This can be done in person or through video chat, text, or email.)
Think about a time when listening carefully caused you to change your mind. Write about that experience. One way to write this poem is to begin with a statement of your initial belief and end with your current belief. As you move from the first line to the last, try to transcribe your thoughts as you processed the new information and changed your thinking.
In what ways do you defy some common stereotpye? Is there something in particular you wish people knew? Or are there many ways you wish you'd be seen some other way? Can you even begin to count the ways...?
Think about your favorite sound. What does it make you feel? What memories spring up as you listen? What else does it sound like? If you were to write the sound out as a word, how would you spell it? Write down your answers and circle the key words. Write a poem that incorporates your circled words. Let the poem begin or end (or both) with the sound.
Write a poem of thanks to someone who listened to you (who either listened in a particular instance or who listened over time).
Write a poem in which each line begins with the letters of the word LISTEN. (Put the letters L I S T E N down the left-hand side of a page in bold. The first word of the first line begins with L; the first word of the second line begins with I, etc.) For a longer poem in this style (acrostic poetry), try LISTENING or LISTENING IS LOVE. (These can be on the subject of listening, but they don’t have to be. You might even find that what you write about has an unexpected connection that’s brought out by the form.)
Write a light poem about a listening mishap based on a misheard word or assumption. This can be real or imagined. Have fun!
Sit with the idea of "listening" (or The Art of Listening anthology or any favorite work of art) and see where the thoughts, metaphors, stories and images lead...

- Poetry Prompts by Linda Eve Diamond

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