I’ve had a time coming up with a poetry prompt since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. No problem writing poetry, just coming up with a prompt that seems open and kind. It’s spring, and as I sink my hands into the fresh compost of my garden bed and smell the living funk of earth I think of Bukowski. I always think of Bukowski in spring. I read his “When I think of Myself Dead” from his book Love is a Dog From Hell. The line, When I think of myself dead / I think of somebody making love to you / when I’m not around, and I think that even in his lonely dark musing on mortality he imagines someone else. He surrounds himself with others. I’m surrounded with my garden, cats, poems, and of course other things I’d rather not include.
What do you surround yourself with? Please share one line in response to the prompt “I surround myself with [blank]” to be included into crowdsourced poem #4 and we’ll see what we all surround ourselves with, and where that might lead. Be morbid, or not! Be wordy or succinct as is required! You have 48 hours.
Thanks poetry friends!
Chris Bevens | pedalpoet 