Fridays Are for Date Nights

Our Host

Leilya Pitre lives in Ponchatoula, LA, which is known as the Strawberry Capital of the World. She teaches at Southeastern Louisiana University and coordinates the English Education Program. With her students, who are tomorrow’s English teachers, she tries to think of the ways to make learning accessible, enjoyable, and effective. She loves to learn about people, cultures, and rich traditions all over the world. In her free time, she reads, writes, listens to music, visits her children and grandchildren, or travels with her husband. Leilya’s love for poetry is reflected in her recent book, Where Stars Meet People: Teaching and Writing Poetry in Conversation.

Inspiration 

First things first: if you plan to use this prompt with your students, you may call it Fridays Are for Fun. You may also want to adjust the prompt description to reflect this change. 

It’s Friday. After a long work week, you need some rest, a break from routine, and an enjoyable company. I invite you for a date. No, this came out wrong. I suggest you go on a date. You will choose a person with whom you think your mind and soul will effortlessly connect, recharge, and have a wonderful time.   

Many of you, probably, wrote about dates and date nights before this prompt and have an idea how you may craft a poem like this. I found Sam Faisal’s poem The Perfect Date as a beginning point for you to consider a kind of a date you may want to plan.

Process

When you think about a date night, who and/or what come to mind first? Think about that person, place, time, and how it makes you feel. 

You make take any of these approaches when creating the poem:

• Write about a date that already happened, but still remains your favorite (or one of the favorites);
•  Write about an upcoming date with a special person in your life that is planned;
• Write about an imaginary date with someone you always wanted to meet;
• It can also be a poem, in which you may sketch a few dates (a stanza for a date, for example).

Most importantly, think about a date that brings you peace and joy, warm memories, and hope, even if it reminds you about pain or loss.

You may rhyme your poem or use a free verse, whatever works best to carry your message to us. There is no specific pattern, count of syllables, or rhyme requirements. Your poem can be as long or as short as you want it to be. Follow your heart and your fingers on the keyboard. 

If you like a little challenge, choose a form: a series of haiku, tanka, or sijo; a sevenling, an echo poem, a sonnet, or a cinquain. My poem today is written as a sevenling (see the instructions for writing sevenlings in one of the previous Open Write prompts). Because it’s Friday, and I want you to have some time for you and your loved ones, I wrote a short poem as an example. I may write another one alongside you today.  Please, choose any form that works for you today. Enjoy writing!

Leilya’s Poem

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe.