Numbered

Finally, here’s our optional prompt for the day! Start off by reading Arvind Krishna Mehrotra’s “Lockdown Garden.” Now, try to write a poem of your own that has multiple numbered sections. Attempt to have each section be in dialogue with the others, like a song where a different person sings each verse, giving a different point of view. Set the poem in a specific place that you used to spend a lot of time in, but don’t spend time in anymore.

Brooklyn rooftop

1
Cautious sunrise
Atop rooftop
Morning cigaratte
Before work

2
Standing near the edge
Blackberry to ear
In deep argument
Party-goers anxious
At his reckless stance

3
Old sofa,
Carried here from other rooftop
We sit and relax
We notice we are watched
From atop other rooftop
Three young men
It was not an unused
sofa after all

4
Humid, breathtaking night
you are fixing your hair
in the gentle breeze
we are surrounded and beloved