I want to write you a poem
Open for business
“I would like to make a deal with you. I mean, instead of just asking you for money, I will ask you for a word. You give me a word, I take the word, and then I will write a poem with the word inside.” -Before Sunrise
I’m learning that I enjoy poetry homework. Writing from a prompt corrals the words so that they may play.
A few weeks ago I shared two poems on Notes, both of which could be called assignments from my therapy group. Although they were character studies of other group members, they seem to have resonated beyond group too.
Here is one of them:
Untitled (for him)
It’s lonely in the house where men could never be boys.
Time does not connote intimacy;
Fifteen years pass and we sit at the same table with the same curtains drawn.
I can’t know which way your cheek rests when your eyelids flutter heavy from sleep. Moments when your shoulders are soft and your face slack in reverie before receding behind layers of glass.
You want something for which you’ve only just started to ask.
It would be easy, if you let us
I’ve come to love the container of writing poems based on a prompt and have decided to widen this offering.
Open for business
Like the man sitting by the river in Before Sunrise, allow me to write you a poem. I’m reserving this for paid subscribers, whose often thankless patronage buoys me more than they know.
The process is simple: click on the button at the very end of this post and fill out the survey prompt. You can provide as much or as little information as you want—then, I’ll use what I have to sketch a vignette. The above poem is a bit somber, so here are links to others that convey more range:
Lost summer soup
I remember heat waves. I remember driving to the beach in your ex-boyfriend’s beat-up car. I remember darkness falling and sweat dripping and delirium setting in over melon.
Although I’m aware that AI can do the same thing these days, I hope we still find value in humans wrestling with the written word. Like the difference between slow and fast food, one of which nurtures as the other depletes.
Perhaps someone you know would appreciate the gift of a human-generated poem? Or you could gift them the newsletter subscription and ask that they request a poem thanking you? For only $6 (or $30 for the full year), I can make this as chaotic and joyful as you want. Could be a nice birthday present? Back-to-school treat? I trust you to know what’s right.
May your prompts be the inspiration I need to create glimmers when all seems dark.
With that, paid subscribers will find the poem generator button below. To everyone else, thank you for reading. Also, please watch the clip from Before Sunrise if you haven’t already. Richard Linklater was a poet too, no doubt.
