weekly prompts to spur us to write poetry
Prompt #13: Superstitions
I thought it would only be fair to pair "unlucky number 13" with a prompt on superstitions :)
Do you have any favorite ones -- either because they reliably bring you good luck, or because they fature something you like (mirrors, black cats, rings), or because they are just so odd or specific -- that you could use as the focus of a poem?
Or browse these lists of superstitions from different cultures and come up with a new favorite or just a superstition you want to explore in a poem. Or hey, invent your own, for the modern world (it's bad luck to try to insert a USB stick the wrong way around, so if you do, you have to throw it in the air and say "data, data, turn the right side up" before you catch it again) or a fantasy culture.
Are there superstitions you secretly or non-so-secretly believe in? Don't believe in but follow anyway, out of habit or fond memory? Superstitions that are connected with a particular person (I think about my grandmother whenever I put down a loaf of bread "the wrong way", and my great-grandma when I see a mirror shrouded in black), or a particular place (different tricks for averting the 'evil eye'), or a particular event (that time you stepped on a crack and your mother ended up in the hospital for something totally unrelated, but you always look where you put your feet after that)? Perhaps you can find a poem in that.
You can write about how a particular supersition makes you feel, personal thoughts and memories connected with it, or come up with a story poem (real or imagined) where the superstition plays a role, fulfilled or subverted. Or just write a poem about superstitions in general, like this Shel Silverstein one.
Superstition is half-way to magic, and so is poetry. So, hop to it and write! (just make sure not to step on any cracks, just in case...)
P.S. Please remember to tag your poem as Prompt 13. For a complete list of prompts, go to the view-only sheet here and click on the appropriate link to participate in a particular prompt.
P.P.S. Since the tagging function still eludes me at the moment, after you post your poem please grab the permalink of your posted poem to this prompt and paste the url as a comment on this thread. Thanks!




Fill: Modern Superstitions
Fill: Modern Superstitions