April is National Poetry Month! Will you write a poem in April? A poem a day, even? Will you help other folks workshop poetry? As an oddity lover, I’m always collecting inspiration resources. Below are a few recent favorites, paired with poetry prompts to help spark ideas.
I believe poetry is meditative, gentle, profoundly flexible. It’s accessible, no matter what anybody says: everyone can write poems and enjoy poetry. Although sometimes I prefer to freestyle things, poetry prompts are sometimes the difference in whether I get a poem out that day or not. And often, a prompt that doesn’t work for me in the moment can yield a poem a few days later.
If you enjoy this kind of inspiration, subscribe to the Author-Oddity Newsletter. I share author updates, which include poetry updates, and any oddities that caught my eye that month.
Werner’s Nomenclature of Colors
A recreation of an 1821 color guidebook by P. Syme
Werner’s Nomenclature of Colors, the website, shares scans of the swatches that Syme hand painted in the late 18th century alongside his painstakingly precise descriptions. “Purplish white” is defined as the “Junction of the Neck and Back of the Kittiwake Gull.” Find “Auricula Purple” in the “Egg of largest Bluebottle, or Flesh Fly.” Nicholas Rougeux, the designer behind this beautiful website, has enriched the content with photographic examples and lovely graphic displays.
Poetry Prompts
- Spend a few minutes scanning all the varieties of a single color. Write a poem that explores the range of that color in nature.
- Choose three specific swatches you like, any color. Then combine either their “animal” or “vegetable” descriptions in a single poem.
- Choose a color that comprises two or more “parts.” Write a poem that plays with how a single color includes multiple colors, each working together to create the whole.
Adelphi Paper Hangings
A collection of historically accurate wallpapers
Adelphi Paper Hangings has been a small, artisanal producer of “historically accurate block printed wallpapers” since 1999. To be clear, this is very much an art and craft that requires active preserving. It grew out of “a symposium of some of the world’s foremost experts and researchers on block printed wallpapers.” (Oh, to be a fly on the beautiful wall at that conference.)
Poetry Prompts
- Choose one wallpaper and spend a few minutes free-writing about every single thing that sits in an imaginary room with that wallpaper. Next, write a poem about a tense or peaceful moment in the room, drawing on the decor you’ve chosen.
- Choose two contrasting wallpapers. Meditate on the mood each evokes. Celebratory? Intimidating? Relaxed? Intensely focused? Write a poem that explores one or both of these moods using the imagery of the wallpaper: its patterns, movements, shapes, and colors.
- Choose a wallpaper. Imagine a character who spends a lot of time in this room. Who are they? A doctor? A child? Another poet, like you? Now choose another wallpaper. Write a poem where your character, sitting in their own room, meditates on an encounter or moment that occurred in the room with the second wallpaper.
The Insane Archive
A collection of buried agricultural oddities, with an eye to the harms of colonialism and unchecked capitalism
The Insane Archive is a carefully documented collection of mini-essays created by Shawn Grows (@ShawnGrows). Most articles are short and snappy, zeroed in a single poignant fact.
Poetry Prompts
- Choose an article. What is its main takeaway, the most interesting thing you learned? Sit with that. Is there a poem there? An irony you’d like to explore? A character in that bit of history you could dip into?
- Choose a single fruit or vegetable. Based on the article and image, imagine what it tastes like. Its texture and weight in your hands. Write a poem about preparing this food to be eaten or otherwise used. As you do, consider how the article affected you. Is this a lost food? Has it played a role in some injustice or tragedy? Does anything about its anatomy, inside or out, reflect its place in history?
- Choose a fruit or vegetable from the archive. Write a poem about cultivating it in your own secret garden. Consider how eager you are for it to grow, to hold it, and the meaning it will have once it’s fully grown.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
A collection of deep sea creatures with stunning photos
This mini Deep Sea Animals encyclopedia is absolute eye candy if you like odd creatures.
Poetry Prompts
- Think about an issue in your life. A small one or a big one. A worry, a source of grief or frustration, something nagging at you. Now, choose one creature based on the photo alone. Imagine yourself in a submarine, watching this creature through the porthole. It’s calm, dark, quiet. Only you and this strange being. How does your perspective about your concern change? Does it deepen? Ease? Write a poem that plays with this shift in perspective. Try opening with the concern, then shifting undersea.
- Choose one creature based on its name. Reflect on what drew you to its name. Is the name effective? That is, does it truly describe what the creature looks like? Write a poem where you either celebrate the name of this creature or critique it.
- Choose one creature based on its photo. Now imagine it in a context outside of the ocean: floating down the hall of an abandoned school house, circling an office in a modern office building, clinging to the observation window above an operating room. What emotions does it evoke in this new context? Does it help capture what you or another person feels about this space?
The Historical Fabric Store
An outline of historically accurate fabrics from the Viking era to the 19th century
The Historical Fabric Store is a small, woman-owned business that helps historical costume designers in particular find exactly what they need. It’s so intimate to think about a historical period in the context of fabric. What would you be wearing now if you had lived then? Can you imagine the feel of it on your skin? Each image is clickable, so you can zoom in on the texture. You can also click through the samples for all the different fabrics, getting a sense of colors and range.
Poetry Prompts
- Choose a time period. Using the outline of fabrics for that period, spend some time imagining your full outfit. Which pieces have weight? Which hang heavy? Do any itch or swish or cling? Now add a dramatic weather: hot sun, sudden snow, a rainstorm. Give this character a specific destination, and write a poem that plays with the sensory discomforts (or comforts) of their journey.
- Choose a fabric. Imagine a scarf made of this fabric. How does it resist the wind? Does it float or ripple, sit heavily around the shoulders? Is it elegant, only for fancy events? Write a poem that incorporates this scarf.
- Choose a fabric. Imagine a woman wearing a dress made of it. She’s beckoning at you, trying to call you to her. Write a poem that features this woman. What might she want? What might she represent, given the color and material of her gown?
Happy writing! Especially if you’re new to the game, check out my list of Writing Resources. I collected these over years of learning how to write, edit, submit, and query agents.
And if you’d like to keep up with my journey, which includes plenty of poetry, check out the Author-Oddity Newsletter. I share oddities like the ones above with the aim of inspiring more strange and haunting creativity in the world. You’ll also be the first to catch my author updates.
