As we come to a close on the NaPoWriMo season, I have my favourite prompt for the season so far: Today’s prompt via napowrimo.net was to take a word from Merriam-Webster’s list of words used in Taylor Swift’s songs, in honour of her latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’! If you know me, you also know that I love all things Taylor Swift, and it’s no surprise that this is my favourite prompt of the month! I chose the word ‘elegy’ used in her songs titled ‘the lakes’, which happens to be one of my most favourite songs of all time! And as we go into the second to last day of NaPoWriMo, I ju ..read more

My favourite poetry form is back and nobody is happier than I am! Today’s prompt for napowrimo.net is to write a sijo. A sijo is a lot like a haiku, but every line has 14-16 syllables. The first line introduces something, the second line discusses it, and the last line ties everything together. I really enjoyed writing sijo, 2 years ago when I was introduced to this format through the NaPoWriMo challenge. After all this time, it has still been one of my most favourite forms of poetry to attempt. Anyway, I don’t have a lot to say except, I hope everyone had a great weekend. Happy ..read more

Today’s prompt via napowrimo.net was to write an American Sonnet, which is… uh just like a regular sonnet, but with a lot less rules. It needs to be discursive, like a regular sonnet, and needs to go off with a bang. One of the best things about the NaPoWriMo season is that I get to explore a variety of forms in poetry. It is so fun to attempt different kinds of poetry and figure out what we’re most comfortable with. I’ve always been the most comfortable with free verse because there are so many possibilities there. Then again, how will I ever be able to figure out what I am best at if I ..read more

Today’s prompt via napowrimo.net is to write a poem that consists of alliteration, consonance, and assonance. If you’re unfamiliar with the terms, take a look at this post by NaPoWriMo here. When I looked at the poetry resource provided, I immediately thought of an evening from years ago where I decided I wanted to take a train all the way to the other side of the city just so I could sit on the rocks by the sea and watch the sun set. There is a lot to learn from nature, and just one evening by the sea can give you endless inspiration. It was, as some would call it, a ‘core memory’ for me, to ..read more

For day 25, the prompt given by napowrimo.net was to write a poem that is either an answer to a Proust questionnaire, a questionnaire in itself, or the answers to some (or all) questions given in the form of a questionnaire by NaPoWriMo. I chose to go with the last option. I couldn’t answer all 35 questions, but I did answer a solid 32. That’s not too bad, right? I chose to write the most unfiltered thoughts I have every time I am asked these questions. Usually, a lot of people answer questionnaires in a very filtered manner, which I really did not feel like writing about, today. But regardles ..read more

Once again, I have chosen to deviate from the NaPoWriMo prompts because I found something incredibly inspiring in my friend Leon’s reels. He showed me a flight of birds that he managed to take a video of; they all flew together in a perfect formation. You can watch his video here; it’s incredibly beautiful. I’ve always wondered how migratory birds always know when and where to go. Of course, I’ve learned all the scientific reasons behing this, but I have always believed that there could be more at play here. Poetically speaking, perhaps love? I wrote this poem keeping in mind the duality of th ..read more

Today’s prompt via napowrimo.net is to write a poem about two unlikely things bickering about something. I thought about it for a while and I realized that time stops for no one. The clock keeps ticking and there’s no way for us to stop that. But there are creatures in the world that are not bound by time. A butterfly, a symbol of freedom and innocence, doesn’t quite abide by the same rules of time as humans do. Its lifespan is tragically short as it is, but the butterfly doesn’t know that because it isn’t familiar with the concept of time like we are. So natually, I had to write about these t ..read more

The prompt for day 21 via napowrimo.net is to pick any colour and write a poem about it. I took a little bit of inspiration from the mango showers lately; things have been grey and cold for the last few days, which I love. Then again, grey in general is a very lifeless colour (in my personal opinion, no offense to anyone who likes grey). I decided to roll with it because what better inspiration can there be? It’s also a direct reflection of how my life feels when I am out-of-touch with any kind of art. I am a creative person by nature, and unless I am surrounded by art, I don’t see the point o ..read more

I woke up to darkness today. Quite literally. It was raining heavily this morning, and the entire day has been pretty dark and moody. I can’t say I hate it. I really do love moody weather. But I did equate it to the warmth of someone you love being gone for whatever reason. It feels like when you’ve lost someone, the lights have gone out, and the sun is never going to rise ever again. That sounds pretty dramatic, but trust me. Been there, done that! Now, we move. This poem was written to mimic the hopelessness and the stuttering, begging desperation that comes with asking s ..read more

The prompt for day 19 via napowrimo.net was to write a poem about something that haunts us, or keeps us awake at night. And when we were done, we were asked to change the word to ‘hunt’ or ‘hunted’ from ‘haunt’ or ‘haunted’. The change is pretty simple but it gave the poem an entirely new perspective. I struggled writing this poem because I didn’t really know how to go about it, but I think I am super proud of how the poem turned out to be. My biggest fear is that I will be replaced and left all alone, that I am not good enough. I don’t know where the fear stems from, don’t ask me. I have no i ..read more