W3 :: The wheels in my mind

The wheels in my mind go 'round and 'round
'Round and 'round, 'round and 'round
The wheels in my mind go 'round and 'round
anxiety is skyrocketing

My mind goes back and forward
back and forward
My mind goes back and forward
anxiety is skyrocketing

A decision needs to be made
this way or that way
A decision needs to be made
anxiety is skyrocketing

Indecision and what-if
making me crazy
indecision and what-if
anxiety is skyrocketing

Overthinking is stressing me out 
nothing is perfect
overthinking is stressing me out
anxiety is skyrocketing

Unstuck and go ahead
ahead and ahead
unstuck and go ahead
anxiety is skyrocketing

W3 – Deanna’s prompt: Mother Goose Muse

For many of us, our first introduction to poetry came through nursery rhymes — those strange, playful, memorable verses we heard long before we understood what poetry even was.

For this week’s W3 challenge, you are invited to use a nursery rhyme as inspiration for an original poem. Your poem does not need to rhyme, and it may be written in any form you choose, but please try to keep it to no more than 24 lines.

You might:

  1. Incorporate a nursery rhyme character into your poem — as narrator, subject, symbol, or inspiration.
  2. Borrow or adapt an opening line from a nursery rhyme.
  3. Simply follow the memory of a rhyme wherever it leads you.

W3 :: the veil

thoughts
the mind goes far
here and now
there and then
be still, hear
the veil holds the truth

No image for this poem, I’d love to know what your thoughts are: Happy, sad, a start or an ending. What is this poem about? As the prompt asks, a dramatic moment where something changes.

Thanks, Ange for the great prompt!

II. Ange’s prompt: One-syllable challenge

For this week’s W3 challenge, writers are invited to capture a dramatic moment in just a handful of lines — a storm breaking, a glass shattering, a door slamming, a sudden realization, or any instant where something changes sharply or unexpectedly.

You may write in any poetic form, with the following restrictions:

  1. Your poem must be between 5 and 8 lines long.
  2. Every single word in the poem must be one syllable long.
  3. You are allowed one multi-syllable word — but it must appear as the very last word of the poem.

Have fun with the tension this creates. Sometimes the smallest words carry the greatest force.

W3 :: my bug

AI image

my first car, a Beetle, yes a Beetle

blue, shining and proud, smiling out loud

all iron for strength, in all the length

leather for comfort, letting go of all discomfort

i saved each cent, lots of bent

just a dream in the beginning, my head was spinning 

as the money pile grew, everything blue

I saw the possibility, only stability

the freedom of going, and glowing

my own wheels, no more in my heels

i miss you, my little bug, only a hug

W3 -I. O’Nika’s prompt: Echo verse

This week, let’s play with rhyme and repetition by writing an echo poem about firsts.

W3 :: resilience

awake now

because dreams kept me dreaming

chaos

delivering me news

eloquent space in between

fake or real

grateful for visiting the past

hating me for letting it go

invitation for forgiveness

juggling here and now

keep me sane or crossing the line

lying down and resting

mental breakdown

never too late to try again

otherwise

pondering will take me nowhere

questions will be unanswered

running in my mind

solitute is what I need

time comes and goes

universe doesn’t stop

validating what is impossible

without any doubt

X-ray of the soul

yielding resistance

zeroing the limits


W3

II. Christine’s prompt: Alphabetic poetry 

Write an alphabet poem using one of the following two structures:

Option 1 — 26 words, A–Z once each (Any order)

Write a poem of exactly 26 words.

  • Each word must begin with a different letter of the alphabet.
  • All 26 letters (A–Z) must be used exactly once.
  • The letters may appear in any order.
  • No repeated initial letters.

Option 2 — A–Z in order by line

Write a poem with 26 lines, where the first word of each line begins with the next letter of the alphabet in order: A, B, C … through Z.

  • Maintain thematic or narrative coherence.

Tanka Tuesday :: Fresh air

my journal page
a breath of fresh air
spring is patiently waiting 
the winter's farewell

a breath of fresh air 
a season for renewal
flowers, birds, and joy

a breath of fresh air
petals remind me of you
caressing my skin

a breath of fresh air
wakes me up in the morning
to the Earth's party

Tanka Tuesday this week is hosted by the lovely Melissa Lemay, the guidelines are:

For this week’s challenge, we will write our own rensaku:

  • I’d like us to write at least three to four haiku or tanka.
  • Each poem maintains its autonomy, in that it is not influenced by any other.
  • Each poem functions as a stanza in the greater whole. See Shiki’s rensaku verse below.
  • Together, all poems have a unifying theme, or are written with regard to an experience or event.
  • Don’t forget your kigo! Hint: we are headed into spring! Of course, you will write about whatever season you are in, in your part of the world.