• Home
  • Fine Living
    • Start Here—Welcome to Tweetspeak!
    • Read
      • A Poem a Day with Every Day Poems
      • book club
      • Poetry Newsletter!
      • poetry reviews
      • T. S. Poetry Press
      • Quote a Day
    • Write
      • A Book of Beginnings
      • Become a Better Writer
      • Fiction Posts & Prompts
      • Memoir Notebook
      • Poets and Writers Toolkit
      • Writer’s Conferences
      • Writing Prompts
    • Live
      • Art and Disabilities
      • Artist Date
      • Eating and Drinking Poems
      • Journey into Poetry
      • Literary Tour
      • Poem on Your Pillow Day
      • Poetry at Work Day
      • Random Acts of Poetry Day
      • Take Your Poet to Work Day
    • Play
      • Coloring Page Poems
      • Mischief Café
      • Music Playlists
      • poetry humor
      • Quote a Day
      • Shop
      • Twitter Poetry Parties
      • Videos
    • Learn
      • Infographics
      • Poetry Classroom
      • Poetry Units for Teachers
      • Writer’s Conferences
      • Writing Workshops
    • Grow
  • Poets & Poems
  • Writers’ Resources
  • Get a Daily Poem
  • Teaching Tools
  • The Press
  • Workshops

Bridges & Tunnels: Poetry Prompt

By Heather Eure 32 Comments

bridges & tunnels poetry promptAnimate is a poetry prompt that focuses on speaking as if we are a particular object or thing. This time, we’re speaking as Bridges & Tunnels.

Prompt Guidelines and Options

1. Speak in the first person.

2. Be specific. Think nouns instead of adjectives.

3. Consider where you—a bridge or a tunnel—are located, or where you came from, or where you are going. Or, speak as if you have a special desire or concern: maybe you are hungry, missing something, afraid of a sight or sound, in love with another bridge or tunnel that is like you or not like you. Be creative. Any type of situation is fair game.

4. Consider doing a little research about the bridge or tunnel you will speak as: folklore, history, associated words, music, art, sculpture, architecture, fashion, science, and so on. Look for unusual details, so you can speak convincingly and intriguingly about yourself.

That’s it! We look forward to hearing you speak poetically, from the viewpoint of bridges & tunnels.

poetry prompt mini series offer

Click to get FREE 5-Prompt Mini-Series

Featured Poem

Thanks to everyone who participated in our last poetry prompt. Here is a poem from Prasanta we enjoyed:

When 19 at the Fontana Di Trevi

When I was 19
at the Fontana Di Trevi
I tossed in three coins
with the right hand
over the left shoulder

I lost track of where they landed
among hundreds of copper and silver bits
splattered like a random mosaic
on the fountain’s floor

I walked on then
through the long, narrow piazza
past the hungry pigeons
to the rest of the day, the rest of Italy
and the rest of my life

If the bits were underwater, drowning
they’d still catch fire, blaze,
transform, materialize
in a far-off future
or so it goes with magic and wishes

But years later
I’d find out the true charge for dreams
I’d collect a bag of gold and toss it all in
For friendship, love, happiness

Would it cost extra
for a certain pair of eyes
because tears and time
are too high of a price to pay

I’d drop in as many shiny, crisp coins needed
to end poverty, hunger,
cancer, disease

Tell me the cost
to end refugees’ wandering
and to build the homeless a home

What is the price to pay,
Fontana Di Trevi,
to end racial divides
and for men to respect women
as fellow creatures of dignity

I’ve been saving coins and wishes
ever since the day
I heard it on the news
since I saw you fleeing
since I saw you weeping

And I’ve been saving
for my own lonely heart

When 19
you think three coins is enough

At 19
it’s all you’ve got

But when you’re older
you’d gather all the gold of this world
and dump it in the fountain of wishes
if that’s all it took

—by Prasanta Verma

Photo by Alyssa. Creative Commons via Flickr.

Browse more writing prompts
Browse poetry teaching resources

How to Write a Poem 283 highHow to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.

“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland

BUY HOW TO WRITE A POEM NOW

You Might Also Like

  • Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry PromptAnimate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt
  • Bridge of Love: Poetry PromptBridge of Love: Poetry Prompt
  • Form It: A Tunnel Poetry PromptForm It: A Tunnel Poetry Prompt
  • Poetry Prompt: A Tunnel to the UnderworldPoetry Prompt: A Tunnel to the Underworld

Filed Under: Blog, Bridges & Tunnels, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, writer's group resources, writing prompt

P. S., With Love

We hope we made your day
with something you loved or needed.

Make our day? 🙂

Keep thoughtfulness, beauty, & whimsy
in your world (and the world)
with just $1 a month

Comments

  1. L.L. Barkat says

    January 1, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    If you would agree
    to be kind,
    I would lay myself
    down,

    a bridge
    between now
    and what’s never,
    yet, been dreamed.

    ***

    Happy New Year, Heather! 🙂

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      January 2, 2018 at 1:07 pm

      🙂

      Kindness. May it surround you in the new year and always, LL.

      Happy New Year Heather! What a thought provoking prompt.

      Reply
      • Heather Eure says

        January 2, 2018 at 11:02 pm

        Thanks, Donna. Happy New Year, may it be chock full of art, poetry, and beauty.

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      January 2, 2018 at 11:01 pm

      Beautiful, L.L.
      –and thank you, Happy New Year to you!

      Reply
  2. Debbie Crawford says

    January 2, 2018 at 11:02 am

    Beneath my rusty steel
    Fires burn-the only warmth
    for outstretched hands
    that have no hope.
    In tattered clothes
    they wonder when
    the next shelter
    will become available.
    For now there is
    no room in the inn
    and they are thankful
    for my strong stable.
    Their manger
    a shredded Sealy
    offering little relief
    from the night’s bitter cold.
    Commuters race home
    to generous meals and
    laughter among their loved ones.
    Never knowing,
    or perhaps ignoring
    the homeless, the hopeless
    beneath my rusty steel.

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      January 2, 2018 at 11:45 am

      Hello Debbie! I really like that image of ‘you’ as ‘strong stable.’
      Thank you for sharing your poem today.

      Reply
    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 2, 2018 at 1:58 pm

      “Their manger a shredded Sealy.” That’s a powerful image.

      Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      January 2, 2018 at 11:07 pm

      I agree with Sandra, Debbie. The images you’ve created continue to turn in the mind after the poem is finished. Thank you for sharing your poem with us.

      Reply
  3. Donna Falcone says

    January 2, 2018 at 1:04 pm

    Every visitor,
    invited to pass (or un),
    changes everything.

    Soles leave impressions,
    perceptible (or im), scribe
    secret signatures.

    Reply
    • Debbie says

      January 2, 2018 at 1:55 pm

      Like this!

      Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      January 2, 2018 at 11:09 pm

      Clever, Donna. It took me a minute to make the connection (blame it on the winter wind), but aha! Got it. 🙂

      Reply
      • Donna Falcone says

        January 2, 2018 at 11:33 pm

        LOL thanks for hanging in there… it’s a little muddy still! 😉

        Reply
  4. Sandra Heska King says

    January 2, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    To a Panther

    Here
    kitty,
    kitty,
    kitty.
    This is the way.
    Trot thou through it.

    Note: Florida maintains several overpasses and underpasses that serve as safe crossings for the endangered panther as well as other wildlife that could become roadkill.

    Reply
    • Debbie says

      January 2, 2018 at 1:59 pm

      That’s interesting! I didn’t know that. Cute poem.

      Reply
    • Laura Brown says

      January 2, 2018 at 6:00 pm

      How do the panthers know?

      Reply
      • Sandra Heska King says

        January 2, 2018 at 9:54 pm

        Somehow the powers who be determine where they are most likely to cross and then install fencing and vegetation that kind of directs them to a safe crossing passage–sometimes a tunnel or culvert under the road.

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      January 2, 2018 at 11:12 pm

      “trot thou through it.”
      Sandra, I will be using this line from now on when directing my high schoolers on career paths, college life, or difficult times. Endless possibilities, really.
      Good stuff. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Sandra Heska King says

    January 2, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    Prasanta… I would gather gold with you.

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      January 2, 2018 at 11:13 pm

      I know, right?!

      Reply
      • Prasanta says

        January 3, 2018 at 1:54 pm

        Thank you for sharing my poem, Heather!

        Reply
    • Prasanta says

      January 3, 2018 at 1:54 pm

      Sandra, I’d happily gather with you!

      Reply
  6. Laura Brown says

    January 3, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Goodness, with 446 bridges in the City of Bridges (or 2,000, depending on the criteria) and maybe a dozen tunnels, where does a Pittsburgher start?

    Reply
  7. Maureen says

    January 3, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    Tunnel to me, love
    I’ve built bridges of pillows
    Soft like sounds of snow

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      January 4, 2018 at 9:03 am

      Oh, this is so beautiful Maureen.

      Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      January 4, 2018 at 9:15 pm

      This is gorgeous, Maureen.

      Reply
    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 5, 2018 at 12:09 pm

      “Soft like sounds of snow”

      I love this, Maureen

      Reply
  8. Roslyn Ross says

    January 4, 2018 at 11:24 pm

    That bridge you built
    with sweating hands,
    across my heart’s divide,
    while secretly I tunnelled,
    has brought us side to
    side, and in the stretch
    of moment, connected
    as we were, both mind
    and soul directed, that
    we remain entwined.

    Reply
    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 5, 2018 at 12:05 pm

      I like the image of building a bridge across a divided heart.

      Reply
  9. Daniela Borrego says

    January 5, 2018 at 12:51 am

    Mighty twig

    We can’t blame the builder
    our ties were vacillant
    from the first step
    you took in my direction

    I ignored the choking lines
    and believed
    as a twig could have confidence
    in being thick and
    well grounded

    It takes two foundations
    and what is in a name?

    Your ties
    too tight
    brought matches
    to set
    out twigs
    on fire

    Let them burn.

    Reply
  10. Prasanta says

    January 7, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    Souls tunnel back and forth
    Bridging spaces between words

    Reply
  11. Dan Julian says

    January 13, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    “Dig” or “Choice to Choice”

    A mess of proteins, loosely termed a person
    interfaced with a silicon-based logic engine,
    entering into a choice-based virtual world
    (commonly known as a text adventure)
    wherein were presented behavioral options
    such as go north, open door, climb stair, & so on…
    whereupon, a flashing cursor appearing, the person signaled
    “dig”
    as the result of which command, I came into existence,
    for I am a tunnel, with you as my witness
    leading at once down and away
    from the starting point of a simple game.
    As to where I go, well, there’s a catch to that
    which is that in bare point of fact
    the game exists only in the mind
    of the poet whose patchy some-what rhymes
    you (if you do) now deign to read –
    do you see? –
    the poet who, in the spirit of reader satisfaction
    even this moment is undertaking the action
    of writing that I lead to an underground grotto
    through the hollows of which a subterranean river flows
    with on its banks a small flat watercraft,
    by which I suppose daft poet means a raft…
    At any rate, we’re left at the cursor, the logic engine, the person –
    in other words, in some sense, I lead to where we began,
    which, come to think of it, between me and you
    all tunnels do.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Form It: A Tunnel Poetry Prompt - says:
    January 8, 2018 at 8:01 am

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

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

Free with tweet

Search Tweetspeak

Follow Tweetspeak Poetry

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Getting added to our newsletter is your first perk, when you join us on Patreon!

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café.

You’re a regular? Check out our April Menu.

Recent Comments

  • Sandra Heska King on The Color of Your Creativity
  • Sandra Heska King on The Children’s Storybook Garden (Arlington, Washington)
  • Donna Falcone on The Color of Your Creativity
  • Laura Brown on The Color of Your Creativity

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The New York Observer

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

Tumblr Book News

Categories

Poetry for Life? Here's our manifesto on the matter...

Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches

Help make it happen. Post The 5 Vital Approaches on your site!

Learn to Write Form Poems

Whether or not you end up enjoying the form poem, we've seen the value of building your skills through writing in form.

One reader who explored the villanelle was even featured in Every Day Poems!

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

Featured Literary Analysis

Poem Analysis: Anne Sexton's Her Kind

Poem Analysis: Adrienne Rich's Diving into the Wreck

Poem Analysis: Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Order and Disorder in Macbeth

Tone in For Whom the Bell Tolls and Catch-22

Tragedy and Comedy: Why People Love Them

Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

Book Promotion, Platform, Publicity

Author Platform: Where to Start

Ten Surprising Secrets to Make Your Book Go Viral

How to Host a Successful Book Launch

Simple Tips on Finding and Working with a Book Publicist

How to Get Your Poems Published!

Pride and Prejudice Resources

5 Amusing Pride and Prejudice Quotes

Infographic: Simpleton's Guide to Pride and Prejudice

10 Great Pride and Prejudice Resources

Happy Birthday Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Playlist

Featured Top 10 Poems

Top 10 Chicken Poems

Top 10 Chocolate Poems (Okay, Minus 3)

Top 10 Fairy Tale Poems

Top 10 Funny Poems

Top 10 Laundry Poems

10 of the Best Love Poems

Top 10 Poems with Make or Break Titles

Top 10 Mirror Poems

Top 10 Question Poems

Top 10 Red Poems

Top 10 Rose Poems

Top 10 Summer Poems

10 Great Poems About Work

Children’s Poems, Children’s Books

Llamas in Pajamas and Ten Great Children's Poetry Books

A Children's Poem on the Playground

Come Again: Teaching Poetry to Children

Poetry With Children: What's in Your Journal

Teaching Poetry to Children: There Are So Many Blues

Take Your Poet to Work Day: Poet Treasure Hunt in the Library (Callie's Story)

6 Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Children

Top 10 Children's Books and YA Books

Little Red Riding Hood: Graphic Novel

14 Reasons Peter Rabbit Should Be Banned (Satire)

Featured Infographics

Infographic: How to Write an Acrostic Poem

Infographic: How to Write a Ballad

Infographic: How to Write an Epic Poem

Infographic: Ghazal for a Gazelle

Infographic: Boost Your Haiku High Q

Infographic: Pantoum of the Opera

Infographic: How to Write an Ode

Infographic: Poem a Day

Infographic: How to Write a Rondeau

Infographic: Simpleton's Guide to Pride and Prejudice

Sonnet Infographic: Quatrain Wreck

Featured Playlists

Playlist: Cat's Meow

Playlist: Doors and Passageways

Playlist: Fairy Tale and Fantasy

Playlist: Purple Rain and Indigo Blues

Playlist: Surrealism

Playlist: Best Tattoo Songs

Playlist: Trains and Tracks

All the Playlists

They Bring Poetry for Life

Meet our wonderful partners, who bring "poetry for life" to students, teachers, librarians, businesses, employees—to all sorts of people, across the world.

How to Read at an Open Mic free download

How to Read at an Open Mic!

Free Sample!

The Teacher Diaires Front Cover with Lauren Winner

“Hilarious, heart-rending, entertaining.”

—KA, Amazon reviewer

GET FREE SAMPLE NOW

About Us

  • Our Story
  • Meet Our Team
  • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • Contact Us

Writing With Us

  • Poetry Prompts
  • Submissions
  • Writing Workshops

Reading With Us

  • Book Club
  • Dip Into Poetry
  • Every Day Poems
  • Literacy Extras
  • Quote a Day

Public Days for Poetry

  • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • Poetry at Work Day
  • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • Take Your Poet to School Week—National Poetry Month!
  • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • Give the Gift of Every Day Poems
  • Our Shop
  • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • Blog Buttons
  • Become a Partner
  • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2018 Tweetspeak Poetry · Site by The Willingham Enterprise · FAQ & Disclosure