IMPROMPTU #138: Have You Ever Noticed

Have you ever noticed how private
a wet tree is
a curtain of razor blades
Love me because nothing happens.

— Leonard Cohen, from Parasites of Heaven

Write a poem or story that begins with “Have you ever noticed…”

Make it ten lines long.

Include an unlikely metaphor, this to say, use an image in such a way as to reverse its usual associative qualities. (i.e. wet tree as a curtain of razor blades).

Use one example of synaesthesia (mixing the senses).

Include a stranger.

Include the colour purple.

IMPROMPTU #131: PRISM International Summer Writing Prompt

I've been loving the lit mag PRISM International's Summer Writing Prompts by Claudia Wilde, and thought I'd share one here! 

This week, collect words and sentences that resonate with you. Keep them in a safe place. Return to as needed.

Check out Claudia's collection here. Here are some snippets from my journal this past week:

  • men's voices with their cartoon timbre
  • scissor skyline
  • how many hay bales were there?
  • conceivably a Riesling
  • sucking on a ballpoint pen
  • fancy pigeon