Thank You Notes is a monthly prompt that focuses on expressing our thanks to a particular person, place, or thing — in poems, paragraphs, or pictures. This month, we’re crafting thank you’s to walks.
For me, the best part of moving this past spring was finding new walks to go on with my dogs. We turn left and reach the city square; turn right and stroll by cows and windmills. I vary my walks, doing them clockwise one day and counterclockwise the next. Where are your favorite walks? Do you go alone or with furry friends?
Prompt Guidelines and Options
1. Be specific. Think nouns instead of adjectives. If you are crafting a pictorial thanks, show us something unusual or intriguing that we might not have otherwise noticed if we hadn’t seen your picture.
2. Consider fitting the form of your poem, paragraph, or picture to mirror the nature of the person, place, or thing to which you are expressing thanks. A sonnet is different from a villanelle, for instance. Maybe one would be more fitting than the other.
3. Consider playing Taboo and try writing without using the words and phrases thanks, thank you, gratitude, or grateful.
4. Consider doing a little research about your subject: its history, associated words (and their etymologies), music, art, sculpture, architecture, fashion, science, and so on. Look for unusual details.
That’s it! We look forward to your creative thank you notes.
Photo by Pawel Pacholec, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Megan Willome.
Katie says
Morning Walk
Sunlight slants through
towering poplars.
Doves coo gently
above on the wire.
Red berries hang
low on a limb.
Hawk lifts swiftly
off the ground.
Soft breeze stirs
feathery Mimosa blooms.
Dew drops glisten
atop blades of grass.
Pedestrian footfalls
eyes and ear alert.
Azure sky domes
over us all.
Megan Willome says
Katie, in addition to the specific images, I love how your poem is arranged in couplets, almost like footprints.
Katie says
Thank you Megan:)
Sharon says
Lovely
Debbie Crawford says
New Every Morning
Leaves crunch and
acorns pop
under each step.
The sun radiates
through the tree branches-
nature’s stained-glass window.
Like a diamond sparkles,
Morning dew glistens
across an open field.
A baby doe and her mama
graze peacefully
as a crow caws
greetings from above.
God’s mercies are
new every morning.
A silent amen
fills my soul as I
smile into the sun.
Katie says
So beautiful, Debbie. Praise be to God!
Megan Willome says
Debbie, it must already be fall there–I can see it in your poem. Here it’s just not-hot.
Prasanta says
A Walk
filtering moments for a day
preamble or postscript
a pocket of ordinary
revealed, beheld
meaningless trampled bushes
and upright roses
humble crawl of insects close to the ground
sizzle of a whizzing bee
ruffle of leaves whispering above
sunlight drizzling through trees
a dog barks from a window
a lonely old woman pulls out weeds
an elderly man walks his dog at a leisurely pace—
he chooses mid-day
a car shifts several feet away
from exploring feet
we can trace — and track —
steps strapped to a wrist
to measure, manipulate
plan, plot
do more, do less
or compare
or else continue with hands open
ready to sip the world
and wonder at the sorrow and joy —
commonplace scenes framing the day
Megan Willome says
So much here, Prasanta! I love “preamble and postscript.” Also the various people in your poem.