Painting

Last but not least, here’s today’s (optional) prompt. In her poem, “Living with a Painting,” Denise Levertov describes just that. And well, that’s a pretty universal experience, isn’t it? It’s the rare human structure – be it a bedroom, kitchen, dentist’s office, or classroom – that doesn’t have art on its walls, even if it’s only the photos on a calendar. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own poem about living with a piece of art.

She felt it would be better
If her paintings, so carefully selected,
of Warhol's boxes, and Turner's weather
Tenderly framed, in thoughful places erected

Whose ripening and outpouring
Shaded her dreams and provoked her thought
With strange signifiers she tired of exploring
and fantasies both welcomed and unsought,

If these looming objects,
ornate and full of affect

Could be replaced by potted plants
Nature's above art in that respect