Friday
When I'm in need of inspiration, I often turn to poetry, especially some favorites: Robert Frost and Anne Sexton. I often look for phrases in their work that sound like title. For example, below is Anne Sexton's "Young."
A thousand doors ago
when I was a lonely kid
in a big house with four
garages and it was summer
as long as I could remember,
I lay on the lawn at night,
clover wrinkling over me,
the wise stars bedding over me,
my mother's window a funnel
of yellow heat running out,
my father's window, half shut,
an eye where sleepers pass,
and the boards of the house
were smooth and white as wax
and probably a million leaves
sailed on their strange stalks
as the crickets ticked together
and I, in my brand new body,
which was not a woman's yet,
told the stars my questions
and thought God could really see
the heat and the painted light,
elbows, knees, dreams, goodnight.
Possible titles in search of flash fiction pieces include "As a Lonely Kid"; "As Long As I Could Remember"; "Half Shut"; "Brand New Body"; "Over Me"; and so on. So for this Friday Flash Prompt, I suggest either finding titles in Sexton's poem or elsewhere--and then write the flash for that title. And don't forget to have fun doing it.
For further reading, check out FlashFiction.Net's suggested readings of flash fiction and prose poetry collections, anthologies, and craft books, by clicking here.
From Todd B Stevens
April 24, 2010 at 12:57 am
I knew you are one of us. Can I loan you some Edna St. Vincent Millay? To wit:
Firm upon the solid rocks the ugly houses stand
Come and see my shining castle, built upon the sand.