W3 Prompt #232: Wea’ve Written Weekly
Intro
Dear friends,
Welcome to our W3 Poetry Prompt, which goes live on Wednesdays at The Skeptic’s Kaddish.
You may click here for a fuller explanation of W3; but here’s the ‘tldr’ version:
Part I
The main ingredient of W3 is a weekly poem written by a Poet of the Week (PoW), which participants read before participating in the prompt.
Part II
The second ingredient is a writing guideline (or two) provided by the PoW. Guidelines may include, but are not limited to: word counts, poetic forms, inclusion of specific words, and use of particular poetic devices.
Part III
After five days, when the prompt closes, the PoW shall select one participant’s poem as the W3 prompt for the following week, and its author becomes the next PoW.
Simple enough, right?
Kindly note: All entries for the W3 poetry prompt must be the original work of the submitting author. AI-generated poetry is not permitted.Okie dokie ~ Let’s do this thing!
I. The prompt poem:
‘firaq…’ by Destiny
long nights tell life stories long-ago feels close here empty hands lift to bear the weight long-ing
II. Destiny’s prompt: Words that feel like an experience
Some words hold a whole experience within them. This week, use one or more of these Urdu words to tell a story through poetry:
- Kasak (کسک)
Pronunciation: “kuh-suk” · IPA: /kə.sək/
A lingering ache—something that stays with you long after a moment has passed. - Qaraar (قرار)
Pronunciation: “kuh-RAAR” · IPA: /qə.ɾɑːɾ/
A quiet sense of peace—something that steadies you and helps you feel settled. - Ghuttan (گھٹن)
Pronunciation: “ghoot-un” · IPA: /ɡʱʊ.ʈən/
An unspoken feeling of suffocation—as though something inside you has no room to breathe.
The English pronunciation guides are approximate: the “oo” in “ghoot” sounds like the “oo” in “foot,” and its “g” has a soft breath behind it. The “q” in Qaraar is like a “k” made farther back in the throat.
These simple meanings are starting points. If you’d like to explore further, search for the words alongside “Urdu poetic meanings.” Or let your own feelings and experiences guide you—no research needed!
Poetry form: Your choice, in 12 lines or fewer.
III. Submit: Click on ‘Mister Linky’ below
In order to participate and share a poem, open up this blog post, outside of the WordPress reader. At the bottom, just below these words, you will see a small rectangular graphic with the words ‘Mr Linky’. Click on that to submit.
Submissions are open for 5 days, until Monday, Oct. 12, 10:00 AM (GMT+2)
Last week’s W3 poem
This week’s W3 prompt poem (above), composed by Destiny, was written in response to last week’s W3 prompt poem, which Khadija wrote:
‘To a Flower on a Kashmir Mountainside’ by Khadija Shabbir
Little one, clinging to grey stone where nothing else dared root itself ; what do you know of stubbornness that I have yet to learn? I found you between two boulders, petals the color of held breath, trembling not from weakness but from wind that has crossed glaciers just to reach you first. Thou growest where the mountain offers no soil, no shelter, no promise; only altitude, only cold, only the kind of beauty that asks nothing in return. What do you know of solitude, small and bright against so much grey? Do you count yourself alone, or does the whole mountain keep you company in its silence? And if you could answer, I imagine you would say: I am not stubborn I am simply placed. The wind did not defeat me, it planted me. You call this solitude; I call it being chosen by the one place soft enough to hold me and hard enough to keep me. That surprised me more than the climb did; that what I read as struggle, you might call belonging. That the very stone I pitied you for may be the only ground that ever truly wanted you. I left you there, still standing, long after I had gone; small, stubborn, sacred thing, who taught me that survival and belonging are not always the same story.#Community #CreativeWriting #Creativity #Experience #Poem #Poetry #Prompt #Urdu #W3 #Words #Writing
