Writer’s Digest’s Robert Lee Brewer: While I write my poems in April, I figure out the prompts in February and March—because I’ve learned it’s difficult to create both at the same time. So when I thought of today’s prompt, I was hopeful that it would be about a time in the recent past, but here we are, so without further ado…
For today’s prompt, write an isolation poem. For many, this is a very real and present subject. And for me, I’ve found that social distancing and staying at home has actually made it harder for me to find the isolation my introverted soul needs to recharge—so I actually wake up before anyone else to get a little alone time. But isolation existed before COVID-19 as well. So there are plenty of ways to dive into this one.
isolation
isolation is a verb,
an action I was learning to perform
in the first two sessions of
an eight-week beginners’ belly dance class
my friends and I had joined for fun
moving a part of the body
separately from all the parts
surrounding it:
the ribcage, a hip, a shoulder
isolation is a noun
that put a premature end
to those classes.
We should be “graduating” tonight
but instead we still are on hiatus
alone in our homes
where we miss the music
and each other
and long to again browse through the spangled costume pieces
wondering which ones would look best
and when we would have learned enough to earn
the right to wear a jingly hip scarf
to punctuate the joy
of our togetherness,
our communal dancing