Poetry prompts are a way to inspire poets. They can get you thinking creatively and challenge you to write differently and try something new. You won't have a problem getting inspired as there are numerous sites devoted to poetry prompts or poem starters. Some poets clearly enjoy thinking of the prompts themselves. Below you will find some poetry prompts we have created and a list of resources where you can discover many more poetry prompts. Thanks to the Internet you will never be lacking for inspiration.

List of Poetry Prompts

• Write a poem about blue sand and red crabs.
  
  
• Write a poem about soup taste like happiness.
  
  
• Write a poem about someone sad. Use the words despair and summer.
  
  
• Write a poem about a woman who works at Barnes & Noble.
  
  
• Write a poem about a scientific wonder.
  
  
• There's probably Breaking News on CNN right now. Create a poem about it. But in yours make sure it is raining.
  
  
• Write a poem about tomorrow. Use the word toothpaste.
  
  
• Write a poem about Brad and his spectacular day.
  
  
• Write a poem about Instagram.
  
  
• Write a poem on the bus about a train.
  
  
• Write a rain poem.
  
  
• Write a poem about a man filing his taxes.
  
  
• Write a poem about a party.
  
  
• Write a poem about a lost dog that is found.
  
  
• Write a death poem. The Grim Reaper should make an appearance.
  
  
• Write a short poem about nothing.
  
  
• Flip to a random page in your journal. Use a word on that page in a poem.
  
  
• What song have you been listening to a lot lately? Use a word from it in a title of your next poem.
  
  
• Write an a poem about an apple.
  
  
• Use the words green, farm and tree in a poem.
  
  
• Write a romantic poem about a gift.
  
  
• Write a poem about Bing, Google and DuckDuckGo.
  
  
• Write a poem about a dare that backfires.
  
  
• Write a poem about how something smells.
  
  
• Write a haiku about poetry prompts.
  
  
• Write a poem about how watching that last horror movie made you feel.
  
  
• Write a poem about coffee and shoveling snow but don't use the words white, cold, frozen or hot.
  
  
• Write a poem about a girl who keeps stealing books from a used bookstore.
  
  
• Use these three words in a poem: love, grass and cat.
  
  
• Write a poem about the hungriest day of your life.
  
  
• Write a love poem without using the word love.
  
  
• Write a poem about frogs and vomit.
  
  
• Write a poem about caffeine and/or running when you are feeling really groggy.
  
  
• Write a short poem as fast as you can. Use the word blazing.
  
  
• Write a poem about betrayal and revenge. Make it intense.
  
  
• Write a poem about something bizarre that happens at a writing conference.
  
  
• Write a poem about another poet.
  
  
• Write a poem that includes a hat and the wind.
  
  
• Write a poem about a big dinosaur.
  
  
• Make someone you know doesn't like writing poems write a poem and then write a poem about it.
  
  
• Take three of your poems and mash them into a new poem.
  
  
• Write a poem about things that live in the swamp.
  
  

Poetry Prompt Resources

Here is a collection of additional places to find poetry prompts:

• Writing Prompts: Our writing prompts page might also inspire you to think poetically.
  
  
• Poem Generators: These generators can create poems that could be used as prompts.
  
  
• Poewar Poetry Prompts: Poewar has a collection of prompts from four year sof its 30 Poems in 30 Days series.
  
  
• Poetry Prompts on Twitter: Twitter is a great resource to find poetry prompts that Twitter users have tweeted out.
  
  
• Poetry Prompts on Pinterest: Pinterest users have pinned many poetry prompts. Some of them are also graphically pleasing to look at.
  
  
• Poets Online has a Random Line Generator you can use as a starting place or as a prompt.
  
  
• Poetry Prompts Generator: Poet Robert Peake has created a poetry prompts generator that provides a prompt with words to use and challenges as well as an optional image for inspiration.
  
  
• The Poetry Prompts Tumblr is all about prompts and providing inspiration for writing poetry.
  
  
• Writer's Digest Poetry Prompts: Writer's Digest has hundreds of poetry prompts on Robert Lee Brewer's blog, "Poetic Asides."
  
  
• Writing Prompts for Kids - These resources are targeted at kid writers but creative adults may be able to use them to come up poem ideas as well.