Gavin Bennett's Blog: Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 317

Yes, I’ve started releasing winners from the 2015 April PAD Challenge, and yes, we still have a long way to go, but you got to start somewhere, right? Check here every so often to see the results as they become available. Also, a new poetic form: the decima.

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Remember the (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. Of course, “Remember the Alamo” immediately springs to mind, but there are any number of things people can forget and need to remember. A few examples include: “Remember the Kids,” “Remember the Dentist Appointment,” and “Remember the One Time You Did That One Thing.” Have fun remembering this week!

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Poet’s Market 2016

Remember the Poet’s Market!

The 2016 Poet’s Market, edited by Robert Lee Brewer, includes hundreds of poetry markets, including listings for poetry publications, publishers, contests, and more! With names, contact information, and submission tips, poets can find the right markets for their poetry and achieve more publication success than ever before.

Pre-order your copy today!

In addition to the listings, there are articles on the craft, business, and promotion of poetry–so that poets can learn the ins and outs of writing poetry and seeking publication. Plus, it includes a one-year subscription to the poetry-related information on WritersMarket.com. All in all, it’s the best resource for poets looking to secure publication.

Click to continue.

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Here’s my attempt at a Remember the Blank Poem:

“Remember the Moment”

Remember the moment you first fell for line breaks
and metaphors, for rhymes and meaning, and avoid
trying to recapture that moment. Instead, make
that moment a fire that powers your future joys
and reminds you that taking a new risk often
leads to new rewards even if a stumble or
three. Use that moment in the difficult times when
all seems lost to feel the power of simple words.
Here they are breaking like waves against the shoreline
always present with new depths of meaning to find.

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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community, which means he maintains this blog, edits a couple Market Books (Poet’s Market and Writer’s Market), writes a poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine, leads online education, speaks around the country on publishing and poetry, and a lot of other fun writing-related stuff.

He still has his early notebooks of poems from more than 20 years ago and re-visits them any time he realizes he’s in a rut. There’s a fire that burns in them to this very day. And he’s the author of Solving the World’s Problems.

Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.

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