Poetry Prompt February 2022

Exploring colour in your poetry

For those of us who live in the western hemisphere, February ushers in the first signs of colour after the chill of winter. Spring is not here yet, but daffodil and iris buds brighten flower beds. Glossy green ferns smother stone walls. Peach feathered waxwings peck at what berries remain in the hedgerows.

Thus, Februrary’s poetry prompt is going to be all about colour.

To start with, decide which colour you associate with February. Everybody’s answer will be slightly different. You don’t have to have a logical reason for the association. Simply write down the first colour that comes to mind when you hear the word February.

Next, set a timer for five minutes and list everything you associate with your selected colour. Perhaps you relate this colour with a certain object, something in your environment, a particular person, a specific moment, some far-off location you’ve never visited, an emotion or a political movement. Think about how this colour has manifested in your present and your past. You can go on listing longer than five minutes if you find yourself on a roll.

Once you have your list, look for themes in what you’ve written down. Do several of your entries have some kind of connection? Are they connected by a particular recurrent idea e.g. love, violence…