Write about a trait that is now less prominent in your personality for today’s NaPoWriMo prompt from Terry Griffiths. New Exercise Book My science book is running out of pages — As lovely as my teacher is, Needing to put up my twelve-year-old hand Is spinning around my twelve-year-old head. Perhaps I shall make my handwriting Even more shy instead. Spinning around in my nineteen-year-old head Is how I just served an American guy at Primark Who was emphasising his yeehaw accent, An accent I’m always tryna do at home. Sadly, I didn’t join in. The lady he was with said he sounded ridiculous. Rid ..read more

Patrick Widdess invites you to write a triolet for today’s NaPoWriMo prompt. A triolet is an eight-line poems with only two rhymes following the rhyme scheme below where capital letters indicate a repeated line. you can find a full guide here. A B a A a b A B The key is to make sure you have a strong opening couplet because it shapes the poem and has to be good enough to be worth repeating. Writing a triolet is a satisfying puzzle to crack and you can write on any topic serious or humorous. Never again Remember, remember and never again The fighting, the killing, the loss of young lives. We s ..read more

For today’s NaPoWriMo prompt from Steve De La Salle take a closer look at an everyday object so familiar you don’t usually notice it. Explore it until you find a poem. Frying Pal In this gem-pit, walled and round Flavours of all types were found. As the sizzles and the hisses As the near-eye fat-spit misses Took charge, fragrance filled the room, (At times: smoke alarm would boom!) As this tummy gurgled, grinned Sad thoughts, bad day vibes were binned And tunes were sung merrily, Frying Pal – both you and me Tossed those pancakes! Fried eggs, large! Simmered curries, (spice barrage!) Cooked b ..read more

Spring is in full swing and summer’s just around the corner. Look back on memories fro a previous summer and write a poem for today’s NaPoWriMo prompt from Holly Marie Shakeshaft. Summer of the Swift First went the swifts. Their swooping screams eloped To places far away. Away from my head And the rooftops The swifts left. You stayed for a week. Sea salt clung to my skin Lingering like the echoes Of comforting cries, Stinging sun-kissed lips. Blue eyes Blue skies Cheap lager and laughter. Old Polaroids Scattered across my mind Strewn like the shadows of birds Asleep on the wing. Avocets and p ..read more

Regular contributor Brent Hagen returns to offer another great prompt and poem for NaPoWriMo. Today write focus on your daily environment and reimagine its importance to you. This poem was inspired by William Matthews’ poem Onions. after your favorite bourbon climbing your home’s cherry wood spine you realize you have never locked your bedroom door even when a wild boar guffawed into your sunroom rejoicing in your spuds and edamame causing your sunflowers to supernova The moonlight on your cello’s strings climbs the music of its tree pulls at your inner workings and your telescope aimed hapha ..read more

Will Ingrams returns with another prompt, this time using metaphor. Another day, another poetry prompt. This is Will Ingrams with another challenge, and this one is about metaphor, which we all use all the time in poetry. Today however, I would like you to think of a comparison which at first glance seems unlikely or unpromising, and then, in your poem, make us realise why the comparison works. The unlikely metaphor is sometimes called a conceit, and perhaps Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 was a bit of a conceit – his love and a summer’s day? I’ll read you an example of a conceit poem I wrote a coupl ..read more

Here’s a new video from Anti Social Worker of a track he performed when he was on the podcast – War Inna Ghetto ..read more

Today’s prompt comes from Ella Duffy from a previous episode in which she talked about writing poems inspired by mythology. You can listen to the full episode here. elladuffy.co.uk Poetry Non-Stop · NaPoWriMo Day 16: Ella Duffy – Mythology For more NaPoWriMo tips and writing prompts check out the book Poetry Non-Stop. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast please consider showing your support with a donation via ko-fi.com Books by many of the poets featured on the podcast, are available from the Poetry Non-Stop bookshop here. All books purchased via this link help to raise money to keep this p ..read more

We welcome back Rychard Carrington for another NaPoWriMo prompt and poem. Write a poem about an aspect of yourself, employing rhyme. For further explanation listen to the podcast and read Rychard’s poem below. My automatic pilot’s always crashing In a crisis he just makes me tenser Born thick, each day he gets denser, I’d sell him on ebay for ninety-nine pence, or Donate him to a club the opposite of Mensa. [Further comments have been deleted by the censor] My automatic pilot, whose name is Frank Spencer. One-donkey-powered, A hopeless coward, He should be feathered and tarred And smothered i ..read more

Alex Blustin returns with another prompt on clothing. He says: The clothes we wear can both reveal and conceal our true personalities. Choose an item of clothing associated with a well-known figure, and use this as the focus of a poem about their character or activities. The following poem was inspired by someone who was ageing on the outside, but nevertheless in their own mind managed to keep a wonderfully youthful outlook on life. The poem first appeared in Lighten Up Online, Issue 64. Old cruiser Crumpled linen flutters In his memories of the boat, Breezes and bikinis And the foghorn’s boo ..read more