This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that we ask is that if you write, you respond to others to mirror to them your readerly experiences — beautiful lines, phrases that resonate, ideas stirred. Enjoy. (Learn more here.)
Our Host
Tammi is a District Gifted Intervention Specialist, middle school Power of the Pen writing coach, and all-around book nerd who’s been sharing her love of reading, writing, and poetry with students for 18 years. When she’s not lost in a stack of young adult books, you’ll find her rocking out to music with her family, hiking through the woods, marveling at the magic of her son’s mushroom farm, or belting out show tunes with her daughters at the latest musical. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Tammi has published poetry and short stories in Ethical ELA’s teacher resource books, Words That Mend, 90 Ways of Community, and Just YA. She is also the author of the YA verse novel Perchance to Dream.
Inspiration
In June of 2021 I embarked on a poetry writing adventure with a Poetry Marathon contest. Poets had the option of writing poetry for twelve or twenty four hours with a prompt dropping hourly. I chose the twelve hour marathon, and by the end of the day had written twelve new poems. The prompt below is borrowed from that Marathon. I was particularly inspired by this prompt because my daughter and I have always enjoyed sharing our favorite lines of literature. This poetry prompt was a fun way to incorporate favorite lines.
Process
Grab a book from your shelf. Read the last line in it. Use that line as the first or last line of your poem. If you don’t have any books near you, load this page and scan down till you find the right one.
Targeted Teaching Ideas & Variations:
- Encourage students to select a line from their favorite book that conveys important themes or pivotal moments in the text.
- Have students select any powerful lines from novels explored during the year.
- Use Note and Notice Signpost Strategy to guide students in selecting memory moments, Ah Ha moments, Again and Again moments, etc.
- Use this poetry prompt as a book report option for independent reading.
Tammi’s Poem
“I cross the street without an arm to hold me back” — They Both Die At the End
I cross the street without an arm to hold me back
because walking in fear is walking in darkness.
No one should ever hold you back.
Move with purpose, find the light within.
Believe you are strong enough to be yourself,
not what others believe you should be.
Take the next step and the next and the next
because holding still and pretending is death.
Your Turn
Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to 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. 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. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.
Tammi, thank you for hosting today, and so sorry, everyone, for the late start. Your poem is some powerful advice. My favorite line is “because walking in fear is walking in darkness.” Amen to that.
I’m reading Bewilderment by Richard Powers, and I took part of his beautiful and poetic last line and wrote about my area.
Today is the start of the Stafford Challenge, where we write a poem a day for a year, starting on William Stafford’s birthday. Here’s the link if anyone wants to join in. https://staffordchallenge.com/join-the-challenge Your prompt is going to be a great one for when I don’t know what to write! I always have books laying around.
Reminder
and we, too, were good, as good as*
the pressing wind
and the blanketing sun
and the green carpet from the autumn rains
and the lantern blossoms of the Joshua tree
and the well-worn paths of the Chemehuevi
and the peace in being in this place
______________________
*last line in Bewilderment by Richard Powers: “And we, too, were good, as good as the burn of the sun and the rain’s sting and the smell of living soil, the all-over song of endless solutions signing the air of a changing world that by every calculation ought never to have been.”
Tammi, thank you for your powerful poem that has so many hues this MLK weekend when so many are concerned with holding back and yet trying to push forward with what we value and need…..You remind us that to not go forward and push is to face the moment of our deaths…..I just finished re-reading the Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber. The last line in the book is, “The last spy of the Duke of Coffin Circle, alone and lonely, in the gloomy room, thought he heard, from somewhere far away, the sound of someone laughing.” I took some liberty in word sequence while embracing the message on this very snowy afternoon.
Alone, but not really lonely,
Thoughts of friends, children,
Writing their own stories,
I settled into the couch with a
Mug of Earl Gray, Chopin on
Spotify, Homeschooled on Kindle.
The glow of an early morning swim
Mingled with the silent snow falling.
I thought I heard the sound of
Someone, from long ago,
Laughing as she worried about
Embracing the moment, and the
Inevitable, change.
Anita, wow, I love the picture you create of your day. It sounds delightful, and then the throw back to a younger you. The whole poem just makes me smile and makes me happy for you. Here’s to a great prompt ant the Anita alchemy that gave birth to this beauty.
This is from Stephen King’s Holly. Instead of a line, I wrote kind of a review or analysis in nonet form. It has spoilers. My friend gave me this book because the two main characters are professors and several supporting characters are poets. They go about their research in different ways. Ha.
HOLLY
They ate to outrun their own endings,
hoarding stolen years from other bodies,
afraid of forgetting themselves,
turning hunger into method,
people into means,
days into debt,
fear into
a small
cage.
Open.
One small
fear into
days into meaning,
people into voices,
turning hunger into language,
tending the self through making,
finding nourishment without consuming,
they wrote to live, not just survive.
Sarah, I love the nonet and reverse nonet – a mirror form as a visual of two. It’s clever and genius. And I’m loving, too, that I can build a TBR list today. Powerful Stephen King strikes again. And Insightful Sarah Donovan does too.
Sarah, one of the hallmarks of “selling” books to readers is the “book-talk” where you share just enough, sometimes hinting at spoilers, so that others will want to read the book. This is what you just did for me. I linked onto my Libby account to find the book where I am only on a waiting list of 2! Thank you. Powerful
Thank you, Tammi! This line from your poem is an important reminder to me: “because walking in fear is walking in darkness”
This is a fun prompt. The book that was on my desk (I plan to read it next) is King of Neuroverse by Idris Goodman. The final line is: “And watch your head on the way out.” I have no idea what it means in the novel, but it reminded me of my “eventful” childhood:
“And Watch Your Head on the Way Out”
Mom would call as I ran for the door,
her voice following me down the stairs,
through coats, backpacks, morning noise.
It became her signature goodbye
after that one fifth-grade afternoon
when I came home wrapped in bandages,
my head larger than my schoolbag.
We stayed late that day: homework done,
freedom buzzing in our legs.
Three boys, three girls, and a plan
that felt important and urgent.
A dog lived by our school. Pregnant,
nameless until we named her Naida.
She needed a home. We needed a project.
The boys found an old truck bed.
It was heavy with rocks and bricks,
history we didn’t think to respect.
They cleaned from the inside.
We searched for something soft.
One brick disagreed with the plan
and launched itself into my future—
a sharp lesson in gravity,
and excellent aim.
After that, Mom never missed a chance.
Every goodbye came with a warning,
a love shaped like caution,
a smile tucked inside concern.
“And watch your head on the way out.”
Leilya, what a sweet but painful story in poem! I love the humor of always reminding you to watch your head. I love your heart for the dog, and your way with words to retell it and share a piece of you with all of us.
This poem made me laugh ~ what could possibly go wrong with fifth graders, a pregnant dog and an errant brick?
Wow, you created a masterpiece from that final line. This is such an ominous line: “history we didn’t think to respect.” Perfect foreshadowing that makes us read with purpose. I’m so glad this prompt inspired you to tell this story. Wow!
Tammi,
Such a great prompt (can’t wait to share this with my 7th graders!). Your poem is an inspiration today, on a bright sun-filled January amidst so much gathering darkness. Last night, I took a photo of a line from the book I was reading, since it inspired me – The Unbreakable Crown by Carina Finn – “Let those who are destined to fail, tear each other down.” Who knew I’d use it so soon!
Let those who are destined to fail,
tear each other down.
I read those words on a sign
once,
while standing amidst the rising.
I heard those words
once,
shouted from a factory floor.
I saw those words
once,
slipping from the lips
of the good.
I watched those words
once,
catch and take hold,
knowing,
knowing,
knowing,
that the people will rise
above their differences
to build again.
Jennifer,
Your last lines ” Let those who are destined to fail, tear each other down” so relevant in our current climate. I appreciate the hope conveyed in the last lines of your poem —
“that the people will rise
above their differences
to build again.” I do hope we can build those bridges!
I am adding The Unbreakable Crown to my TBT list.
Jennifer, what a line you chose to write a poem! I agree with Tammi–it feels especially relevant today. I like all the ways you witness and recognize these words: read, heard, saw, watched. They help me envision the consistency of the message and help move toward the final message: “people will rise above their differences to build again.”
Oh my. We are living in those lines, aren’t we? Your sentence shows the universality of shifting context. I like that. I like that a lot.
Oh, Jennifer, I got shivers reading this poem and those last lines bring tears of hope and knowing, knowing that we will rise again. Wow. Thank you, thank you.
Jennifer, That is a powerful quote that brings a small grain of hope to me on this long weekend after what has already been a long new year of people trying to pull others into a pit of quiet despair. I have long held onto a belief that in the end, the “good guys” win – but it often takes a very long time. I do hope and pray your last line is prophetic.
Tammi, I love your prompt! Thank you for hosting today. Your poem carries such deeper meaning, both literal and figurative. It’s a poem for the day and our times.
I recently finished Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, so I reached for the book and found the last line to use as my inspiration for my poem today.
“Avery’s coming for pie. And there’s a Scrabble game to win, after all.” -Shelby Van Pelt from Remarkably Bright Creatures
On Playing Scrabble with My Children
there’s a Scrabble game to win
and you can be sure
the dictionary will be the referee
at the turntable deluxe edition
on their great great grandmother’s
refinished table where the
ancestors have refereed
their own games
Kim,
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures, and I love how your last line captures your family together around the “refinished table”. Your poem feels rich with history, like there might even be another story to tell.
Thank you for your poem!
Kim, what a comforting image, one that transcends time and place. It has become a tradition for my younger son to get a new game at Christmas to take up to my parents’ house where we all gather and spend cold nights around the table. Laughter is the sound evoked. I love your dictionary referee and the refinished table bridging the past and present. I can see the future games and the circle continuing.
Kim, I smiled reading your poem, as I could envision the family at the table. It also brought the memories of my children and grandchildren playing Scribble. And you are absolutely right–“the dictionary will be the referee.”
What a perfect last line for you and this sweet poem. I love the mention of the table too–there is such rich history and story in these few lines. I was reminded of my grandma’s turntable under her Scrabble board too. I love that this wonder wouldn’t have come about today without Tammi’s prompt. Perfection!
Kim, this is a great line that spurs all kinds of Scrabble memories in me and many others. The use of the dictionary as the referee brings a smile. We used to call it a “challenge” and the consequence of being wrong was significant when my brother and I played “cutthroat” versions of this age-old game on our parents’ coffee table in his house as the fireplace crackled in the background.