126 Poetry Prompts for Writers
Need a direction for your next poem (even if it’s your first)? Find here 126 poetry prompts to get you poeming.
As of today, I've shared more than 1,700 poetry prompts on this site over the years. One per day (and two on Tuesdays) in April and November and every Wednesday in between those months. So it's really beyond time for me to cobble together a list of poetry prompts for writers looking for some inspiration.
Instead of dumping the entire exhaustive list, I've pulled together 126 poetry prompts to get people poeming. Each prompt is a clickable link that will take you to the original post where I used the prompt. On each post, I give some extra ideas, provide my own attempt at writing a poem, and the comments often include quite a lot of examples from other poets as well.
Have fun perusing and poeming!
126 Poetry Prompts for Writers
Here are 126 poetry prompts for writers. If you want more detail about each prompt, click the link.
- Write a flight poem.
- Write a movie trailer poem.
- Write a shifting poem.
- Write a road poem.
- Write a beach poem.
- Write an influence poem.
- Write a special day poem.
- Write a discarded poem.
- Write a vehicle poem.
- Write a wind poem.
- Write a bittersweet poem.
- Write a possibilities poem.
- Write a reset poem.
- Write a dead poem.
- Write a remix poem.
- Write a persona poem.
- Write a homonym poem.
- Write a maximum poem.
- Write an earth poem.
- Write a trope poem.
- Write an emotion poem.
- Write an ekphrastic poem.
- Write a living poem.
- Write a funny poem.
- Write a memory poem.
- Write a major event poem.
- Write a luck poem.
- Write a minimum poem.
- Write a mistake poem.
- Write an optimistic poem.
- Write a prepper poem.
- Write a city poem.
- Write a saving poem.
- Write a story poem.
- Write a joyful poem.
- Write a solemn poem.
- Write a history poem.
- Write a color poem.
- Write an anxiety poem.
- Write a falling poem.
- Write a last night poem.
- Write a time poem.
- Write a response poem.
- Write an appreciation poem.
- Write a setting poem.
- Write an even poem.
- Write a refresh poem.
- Write an animal poem.
- Write a poem without pronouns.
- Write an odd poem.
- Write a character poem.
- Write a direction poem.
- Write a sentence poem.
- Write a book-based poem.
- Write a catching poem.
- Write a problem poem.
- Write a childhood object poem.
- Write a declaration poem.
- Write a spooky poem.
- Write a secret poem.
- Write a return poem.
- Write a flower poem.
- Write a stirring poem.
- Write a flashback poem.
- Write a restless poem.
- Write an evil poem.
- Write a portal poem.
- Write an expectation poem.
- Write a short note poem.
- Write an accident poem.
- Write a pain poem.
- Write a sleep poem.
- Write a sensitive poem.
- Write a large poem.
- Write a chaos poem.
- Write a meanwhile poem.
- Write a surprise poem.
- Write a sight poem.
- Write a touch poem.
- Write a fear poem.
- Write a taste poem.
- Write a nerve poem.
- Write a shadow poem.
- Write a sound poem.
- Write a number poem.
- Write a homograph poem.
- Write a small poem.
- Write a poem that smells.
- Write a connection poem.
- Write a B-movie poem.
- Write a foolish poem.
- Write an anticipation poem.
- Write a stolen moment poem.
- Write a push poem.
- Write a happy poem.
- Write a love poem.
- Write a hurry poem.
- Write a pursuit poem.
- Write a forgetful poem.
- Write a delayed poem.
- Write an ambitious poem.
- Write a shape poem.
- Write a break poem.
- Write an avoidance poem.
- Write a reflection poem.
- Write a community poem.
- Write a refrain poem.
- Write a combo poem.
- Write an out-of-time poem.
- Write an escape poem.
- Write a confinement poem.
- Write a deep thoughts poem.
- Write a desire poem.
- Write an open poem.
- Write a water poem.
- Write a world-building poem.
- Write a moving on poem.
- Write a conspiracy poem.
- Write an organism poem.
- Write a mad poem.
- Write a patience poem.
- Write a power poem.
- Write a gift poem.
- Write a raw poem.
- Write a nature poem.
- Write a health poem.
*****
Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
