I can’t remember the last time I wrote without a prompt, just sat down and started writing…
…and as I haven’t written for a couple of weeks and felt inclined to do so, I thought I’d share the outcome.
Unprompted
some words are better left unsaid
some deeds are better left undone
some words don’t even scratch the surface
some deeds are much too little and too late
sometimes a random act of kindness
sometimes a smile and a shoulder touched
reach deeper into the heart, mind and soul
than all well-considered, best laid thoughts
and plans that so often fail to please
a gesture
a hand
a knowing wink
a comforting sigh of sympathy
unprompted by ulterior needs
not driven by duty or the self
seeps through the pores and ignites
a spark that kindles anew the fire
lacking for so long
not forever
just for now
sometimes just for now
is all that really matters
some words are said exactly when
and how they need saying
some deeds are small but do
exactly what needs doing
Iain
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Beautiful words and truths here. Do you think it makes one lazy to write mostly from prompts? I am in my second poem a day challenge (June with Khara House and now Poetic Bloomings) and find the prompts help me focus. Maybe I’d better get back to improve, at least occasionally.
I’m so glad I found your page- will be back often to read!
I don’t know – perhaps. When I was young my head was full of ideas and confusion and I just had to get it out. After years of not writing it was a poem-a-day that got me started again and I’ve been writing mainly to prompts ever since. I like it because it sparks my imagination. I don’t often just sit and look and see a poem in the vista. When the Baker’s Dozen were writing daily, over a couple of years solid, we always had one day as a free prompt, i.e. unprompted and that was the hardest poem of the week. I guess that makes the answer yes. What I do now is to make a note of ideas or titles. I always need a title to start me off. I should write more off my own bat but I still enjoy the prompt – I love seeing where it takes me – and everyone else. Failed at July PAD!!! Too tired, too behind, too little time!!
Thanks for coming to play!!