February Poetry Project: Week 1 Prompts

Welcome to my 9th Annual February Daily Poem Project.

For several years — in order to practice writing in community — my blog hosted a poetry project. We moved to Facebook in 2017 to accommodate the number of poets and writers who wanted to participate.

2021 Theme: Bodies

In this time of a global pandemic, has your attention turned to the body? Across the world, our human bodies are under attack by a powerful virus. Perhaps, as we all social distance, you have had more time to walk, take your body outside, exercise. Or maybe you have turned inward with meditation or begun a creative practice with your body’s hands. As a poet, has your body of work been affected by the year’s events? Let’s spend this month focusing on the beauty, vulnerability, and vast complexity of bodies — human and otherwise.

Beginning January 31, a group member will post a prompt related to our theme. I hope to share many of those prompts here on my blog, for those who’d like to follow along with the project.

When coming up with writing prompts, we interpret the topic loosely.

Bodies:

· are made up of systems· can be human bodies, animal bodies, bodies of work, bodies of water· are where we feel emotions and senses· look snazzy in jazzy clothes· are the source of dysphoria and joy
etc. 

Your daily task is to write a poem based on that day’s body-inspired prompt.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR PROJECT NEWBIES: The point of this exercise is to practice the habit of writing regularly, even if it’s just for one month.

For those of you following along, the first week’s prompts will be prompted in this post. Feel free to post your poetic responses in the comments.

Are you thinking, “What is this poetry project of which you speak, Laura?” Read about this year’s project here. And there is background on this project — now in its ninth year! — at this post.

Let’s do this!
DAY 1: Monday, February 1, 2021*Bodies Dance*

Choose one of these three routines or a favorite of your own. Write a poem.

Option 1: All girl dance crew covers the K-Pop boy group BTS’s “Not Today.”

Option 2: Christopher Walken in Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice.”Option 3: Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov in the 1985 film White Knights.Tweet