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Reading & Books: Poetry Prompt

By Heather Eure 22 Comments

reading and books prompt

A book, too, can be a star, explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.”

—Madeleine L’Engle

A study out of York University reported that people who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand others, empathize with them and view the world from their perspective. This connection persisted even after the researchers factored in the possibility that more empathetic people might choose to read more novels. A similar study found the same result in children: the more stories they had read to them, the sharper their “theory of mind, ” or mental model of other people’s intentions.

In the words of journalist Annie Murphy Paul, “Deep reading—as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web—is an endangered practice, one we should take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. The disappearance of deep reading would imperil the intellectual development of generations growing up online, as well as the perpetuation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems, and other kinds of literature that can be appreciated only by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained to apprehend them.”

Try It

Essayist Susan Sontag once noted, “Literature is freedom.” How have books shaped you? What is the importance of reading in your life? Who would you be if not for books? Dig deep and write a poem reflecting on these questions.

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Featured Poem

From last week’s poetry prompt, here is a poem we enjoyed from Donna:

His Wink was His Bond –

“I’ll show you this trick
on the next rainy Tuesday”
He winked
and shuffled again.

The card trick has faded
but fifty years later
I still see a wink
and the rain.

—Donna Falcone

Photo by Sam Greenhalgh. Creative Commons via Flickr.

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Heather Eure
Heather Eure
Heather Eure has served as the Poetry Editor for the late Burnside Collective and Special Projects Editor for us at Tweetspeak Poetry. Her poems have appeared at Every Day Poems. Her wit has appeared just about everywhere she's ever showed up, and if you're lucky you were there to hear it.
Heather Eure
Latest posts by Heather Eure (see all)
  • Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
  • Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
  • Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018

Filed Under: Blog, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, Read for Fun, writing prompt, writing prompts

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Comments

  1. Donna says

    August 8, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    Thank you for featuring my poem. It was fun remembering my grandfather that way.

    Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      August 8, 2016 at 4:13 pm

      What a charming poem, Donna. Love this and the prompt!

      Reply
      • Donna Falcone says

        August 9, 2016 at 12:27 pm

        Thanks, Bethany! I was so excited when it finally rained on a Tuesday! I often wondered if he was, too, or if he thought he’d crafted the perfect out! LOL!

        Reply
    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 9, 2016 at 9:02 am

      “I still see the wink… and the rain.” Love this poem.

      Reply
      • Donna Falcone says

        August 9, 2016 at 12:27 pm

        Thank you, Sandra!

        Reply
  2. Sandra Heska King says

    August 9, 2016 at 9:44 am

    On the Fly Leaf

    It may have started with the Book-of-the-Month Club
    Packages arrived monthly and my great-grandmother
    wrote her name on the flyleaf
    in cursive
    Mary C. Dummer, 195__
    I’d slide into a lawn chair out by the deer mound
    in front of our motel
    or in the rowboat, or on my swing,
    or in my fern fort.
    I traveled all over the world
    hung out with all kinds of people
    even when there were none around.
    Grandma died when I was 10
    but I still have some of her books
    with her name written on the flyleaf
    in cursive
    Mary C. Dummer, 195___
    And now packages continue to arrive
    My daughter thinks I need an intervention
    She says a weekly package, or “every other day”
    is not a mild addiction.
    It’s a problem, she says.
    But every page is a page to the past
    a page to my grandmother
    and I write my name on the fly leaf
    in cursive.

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      August 9, 2016 at 12:26 pm

      Oh yes…. this is so sweet and tender a remembrance of your grandma. xo j
      Ha ha… an intervention! What might that be like, I wonder? 😉

      (and another reason I think cursive should still be taught in schools 😉 )

      Reply
      • Sandra Heska King says

        August 9, 2016 at 8:06 pm

        I think cursive should be taught, too. Soon it will be an art activity–like calligraphy.

        I still miss grandma. She always had that hard candy with the cream centers. And she loved limburger cheese. Phew!!!

        Thanks.

        Reply
        • Donna says

          August 9, 2016 at 10:17 pm

          Soooo….. would those cream filled candies be minty fresh ?

          Reply
          • Sandra Heska King says

            August 10, 2016 at 8:08 am

            I don’t remember minty. I just remember creamy. And all different shapes and colors… 🙂

    • Bethany says

      August 9, 2016 at 10:22 pm

      Lovely memories tied together here on a fly leaf, Sandra. 😉 I love the image of you as a little girl in your “fern fort.”

      P.S. I’m definitely teaching my kids how to read cursive. 😉

      Reply
      • Sandra Heska King says

        August 10, 2016 at 8:10 am

        I’d trample down some ferns in the woods behind our house, and sit in there. They were a lot taller then than they are now. 😉

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      August 11, 2016 at 9:45 pm

      An endearing poem, Sandra. Thanks so much for sharing your grandmother with us.

      Reply
  3. Andrew H says

    August 11, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    I really liked the featured poem.

    When death seems ever present, and the moon
    Gives out but half its nightly shine
    Then I will sing some half forgotten tune
    Enchanting in its melody and rhyme.

    Sweet words to go with bitter heart!
    The book that’s bound can also bind
    The soul of he who reads of it.
    Ah, but to go without is to be blind!

    To never see the towers made of gold,
    Or breathe the heady scent of honey
    Found in some delighting insect’s bower –
    To never smell the midnight blooming flower

    Or walk the sands of time, never to look
    At what was past. Steadfast, instead, to go
    Where one may look upon the pages of the book
    That is one’s life, and see what you already know

    Writ large as life itself. And then, to see the close
    Of your own tome, knowing it for your tomb
    But still to laugh, and read the lines, escaping
    Not just your own drab space of chair and room.

    And then, before the ending comes
    To lift brave head and sing that tune
    Once sung when death seemed present
    And the shine was missing from the moon.

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      August 11, 2016 at 9:55 pm

      Lovely, Andrew. A wonderful poem with a perfect ending.

      Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      August 14, 2016 at 10:45 am

      Thank you, Andrew.

      And this poem you have written… it is really wonderful! I love the rhyme, too. It was a fun one to read aloud!

      This is my favorite part…

      Sweet words to go with bitter heart!
      The book that’s bound can also bind
      The soul of he who reads of it.
      Ah, but to go without is to be blind!

      Reply
  4. Katie says

    August 13, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    I so enjoy everyone’s poems and comments here.
    Was inspired to write a poem to honor my mother (now 91) who instilled in her five children a love of reading. We all still read!
    Every two weeks during summer break from school she diligently took us to the library and then carved out a quiet hour during the afternoons for us to read our picks.
    This is just a beginning, but can’t wait to share:

    Trip to the NHCPL

    Marbled columns
    steps and floors

    wrought iron stairs
    wooden door –

    Shelves and shelves
    line the walls

    Books and books –
    Adventure calls!

    Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      August 13, 2016 at 9:59 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing this with the Tweetspeak Poetry community, Katie! 🙂 What a lovely tribute to your mom. Love the rhythm and pacing. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Katie says

    August 14, 2016 at 11:55 pm

    Thank you, Bethany:)
    These prompts are fun!

    Wrote some more this evening:

    Horizons broaden
    with each borrow.

    Places to explore,
    heroes to follow.

    Life yearnings,
    page turners beckon.

    Building character
    teaching lessons.

    Take to wing,
    sky’s the limit.

    Reach and fly
    soar and win it!

    Reply
  6. Katie says

    August 15, 2016 at 7:34 am

    Just thought of a tweak –

    Life-time yearnings,
    Page turners beckon.

    Sometimes it helps to sleep on it:)

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      August 15, 2016 at 7:58 am

      Ooooo I like it! 😉

      thanks for sharing!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Reading & Books Poetry Prompt: Reading to Children - says:
    August 15, 2016 at 8:01 am

    […] to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here is a poem from Andrew we […]

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