2020 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 8
For the 2020 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, poets are tasked with writing a poem a day in the month of November before assembling a chapbook manuscript in the month of December. Today’s prompt is to write a persona poem.
For today’s prompt, write a persona poem. A persona poem is one in which you take on the persona of someone or something else. So you could write a poem from the perspective of Napoleon or Harriet Tubman or any number of other people. The person could be famous or just be that annoying or cool stranger you met at the store. But it doesn't have to be a person; it could be an animal, insect, or even a toothpaste container. In fact, your persona poem could be written in the collective "we" voice even. Have fun with it.
Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them.
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The deadline has been extended for the 2020 Writer's Digest Poetry Awards. The extended deadline is November 16!
Calling all poets! We're on the look out for poems of all styles–rhyming, free verse, haiku, and more–for the 15th Annual Writer's Digest Poetry Awards! This is the only Writer's Digest competition exclusively for poets. Enter any poem 32 lines or less for your chance to win $1,000 in cash.
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Here’s my attempt at a Persona Poem:
“the wild animal”
i howl & charge forever forward
without a thought for who may hear
or feel the impending fear
of something trapped letting
loose from deep within
this empty noose
the how of
after
now...

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.