Two more poems to go! Here’s today’s prompt:

Today’s Prompt

Write a poem, in an invented form, at the intersection of Crowd, The Jungle, and Monster.

An invented form is any form that is not formalized in the canon of poetry, such as sonnets, villanelles, or the more recently developed gigan (Ruth Ellen Kocher), duplex form (Jericho Brown) or golden shovel (Terrance Hayes). Common features of invented forms include: refrains, repetitions, particular meter and/or rhyme schemes, and intertextual play.

Formal innovation is sometimes really natural, and sometimes really difficult, for poets. But you don’t need a mental catalogue of poetry forms to create your own: just pay close attention to what language asks of you. (And perhaps you’ll develop a form that is crowded, jungle-like, or monstrous?)

If nothing else, write in free verse and go from there. I do it all the time.

Here are some prompts and paintings:

Crowd

https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/artworks/variations-en-violet-et-vert-69338

What do you see when you look into a crowd of people?

The Jungle

https://www.nga.gov/artworks/46688-equatorial-jungle

What lurks beneath the surface?

Monster

https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/medusa-laura-dreyfus-barney-1266

Befriend your worst fears.