Music and poetry have gone hand-in-hand for ages. They make a classic pair like peanut butter and jelly, cheese and wine, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 

Many classical poets intended their poetry to be put to or accompanied by music. Music can also inspire great poems. Today, let the tunes(and their lyrics) be your guide.

Write a poem inspired by the title of or a line from a specific song. This works best if you clear your mind beforehand and let the song pop into your head. Catchy tunes encouraged! Extra style points if your words fit the music that inspired them.

https://www.facebook.com/localgemspoetrypressBefore we get down to the prompt of the day, how is everyone doing? Today marks the halfway point of NaPoWriMo. Share your thoughts, experiences and poems with us on Facebook and in the comments. 

Today's prompt is inspired by one of our favorite other poetry websites: With Painted Words. Every month, With Painted Words posts a photo or painting that serves as a prompt for poets and fiction writers. The visual prompts can be quite powerful.

Today's prompt comes courtesy of Maria Illiou and is reproduced with her permission.

"I am a staunch believer that the American public has good taste when presented with great options."-Greg Koch, CEO Stone Brewing Co.

There's a lot of junk out there and there are a lot of things we, as members of western culture (not just those of us who are American) have to be discontent about. This prompt suggests you refocus your frustrations into something positive. 

Pick a product or service you feel is inferior. Services can include Internet providers, local and not so local government officials, and waste management providers. 

After taking a deep breath and letting go of any frustrations the inferior product or service might have caused, write a poem about the ideal. If you had your druthers, what would you replace this product or service with? What would you consider a great option?

Experimenting with line
breaks and stanza breaks can 
yield some

interesting results. Today's
prompt
asks
you
to

Of course,  it
also has
a
theme.

Write a poem about something you have been wanting and denying yourself or something you have been wanting and unable to have. Make sure the poem makes liberal use of line-breaks or even breaks stanzas mid-sentence. Experiment with open-ended or incomplete sentences as well. 

As you may already know, April is National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). If you didn't already know that, you haven't been paying much attention to anything else on this blog.

April is also National Autism Awareness Month. This can be a touchy subject for some as many people don't understand autism and many awareness campaigns don't say much beyond "there's this thing called autism and it exists." Without a deeper awareness, however, having a month dedicated to autism (or any kind of) awareness seems pointless.

Write a poem about an experience you've had with autism whether it be personal, through someone else, or through research. 

Last week, you westernized the Haiku. Now, we're going to take the form into the future!

Write a haiku about current and/or future technologies. Sci-fi, bright flashing lights, and break-dancing robots are highly encouraged.

The Gazal is an ancient middle-eastern poetic form that has been greatly westernized. The form consists of several couplets, the second line of which ends with the same word. Traditionally, each line of the ghazal keeps the same meter and the first line of each couplet rhymes. The ghazal is traditionally written to express pain and loss and the existence of beauty despite these things.

Write a poem that contains at least five couplets, each of which ends in the same word. Optionally, include the other characteristics of the ghazal, but don't worry if you miss one. We're only semi-formal this week.

10 days in already! That's 1/3 of the challenge done. How is everyone doing?

Write a poem that either begins or ends with the following line:

Here it comes.

Today's prompt offers a different take on how structure can be inspirational. When most people think of structure-based poetry prompts, they think of specific forms. Sometimes something as simple as varying sentence structure can yield some interesting results. It can also make a poem more pleasant to listeners when read aloud.

Write a poem containing three stanzas each with two long sentences followed by a single short one.

Today's prompt features words commonly found in two popular genres of fiction. Enjoy, but be warned: This one's a monster! 

Write a poem containing all of the following ten words.