By Jen
- Write about a moment when you did something on your own for the first time.
- One morning, you wake up to discover that something in your life has declared its independence from you. Maybe it’s your shadow, your reflection, your fear, your memories, your alarm clock, or even your own name. Write a poem about what happens next. Where does it go? Why did it leave? Do you celebrate its freedom, chase after it, or discover that you needed that separation all along? Explore independence as both a gift and a loss.
By Dennis Aguinaldo
- Write a dream poem where you are yourself but you’re also in elementary school again. It’s Show and Tell day! What surreal/dream-logic thing from your life do you share? What strange things do your classmates share?
- It’s first day of school for you (or your child). The classroom is full, but these are not the expected classmates. Who—or what—is seated next to you?
By Lea Navaro
Warm-up
(1) Colors Choose a color that you love or despise, and write a poem defining/describing it through positive and/or negative imagery and emotions.
(2) Sounds Pick a non-verbal sound you hear throughout your day (e.g., the rhythmic hum of an old washing machine, someone’s footfall going down the stairs, the creaking of a rusty metal gate, a neighbor dog’s familiar howl), and build a poem around translating that sound into words.
Habagat/storms/transition
(1) Write a poem attributing a non-scientific origin to a storm (e.g., wind is actually a mischievous child, or thunder is the raging of a madman).
(2) Write a poem describing a sudden, irreversible moment of breaking (a snapped string, a shattered coffee cup, a voice cracking). Use this specific physical fracture to mirror a quiet, internal shift in your life.
by Homer Novicio
Suggested Exercises
- Inspired by real events: write a poem wherein a group of people stage a collective action (i.e, rally, strike, flash mob) to demand something surreal from the powers that be. For example: demanding that Mondays be wiped off the calendar so there will only be 4 working days; unearthing the remains of a prominent personality to rule over the land or to move the geographic location of a marginalized province in order to better access basic needs.
- A real-life character from the past or a fictional hero is brought to life in the present. What catches his/her attention? How does he compare it to his/her point of origin? Are all the changes bad? What would immediately make him/her stay or leave?
AMERICA
- Think of your first impression of America. Where did it come from? Can you reconstruct through your poem how distant or near it appeared in your young mind? What did you find most fascinating with it? You can focus on a single object or incident which ignited your curiosity, wonder, or contempt.
- There is that person in each family whose first-hand experience of America has somehow made it into the family lore. From that person’s point of view and based on what you’ve heard, make a poem of his or her version of America.
by Ron Atilano
Set 1
(1) Sumulat ng tulang kinakausap ang isang nilikhang nakatakda nang maglaho. Bigyan siya ng mga panuto kung paanong mabuhay, gumalaw o manatili sa isang mundong malapit nang magwakas o hindi na naaangkop sa kanya.
(2) Sumulat ng tulang nagpapasalamat sa isang bagay na kadalasang hindi natin napapansin, tulad ng antayan ng bus o ilawang poste.
From Roger Robison, poet: “Write fast, edit slow.”
Set 2
(1) Sumulat ng tula tungkol sa katanghalian o hatinggabi kung kunwari ang buhay mo ay tumatagal lamang ng isang araw. Ilarawan ang normal at pang-araw-araw na gawain o pangyayari, ang halaga ng mga natapos, ginagawa, at natitira pang gagawin.
(2) Sumulat ng tula tungkol sa danas ng pagiging nasa kalagitnaan ng pakikinig sa musika o awit, pagbabasa ng isang libro, o panonood ng isang pelikula. Bigyang pansin ang mga bagay na naiiwang nakalutang, ang mga alam at di pa alam, o ang mga nangyari at di pa nangyayari.
by Vince Imbat
Warmup
- Choose one inherited object—a cooking pot, rosary, tool, book, photograph, piece of jewelry, or article of clothing. Tell the story of the people whose hands held it before yours. Write about the moment you realized it carried more than its practical use, and decide whether you will pass it on, transform it, or let its story end with you.
- Think of a family story that has been told repeatedly at reunions, holidays, or ordinary dinners. Write the story as you first heard it, then as you understand it now after growing older or learning new facts. What has been added, omitted, or deliberately forgotten through the retellings?
Mountain Beacon-inspired
- Write about one unwritten rule in your family or community that everyone seemed to obey without explanation. It could concern food, religion, money, gender, grief, respect, or celebration. Recall the first time you questioned it and describe what happened. Has the rule changed because of you, or have you changed because of it?
- Not every inheritance is material. Write about something intangible you inherited—an anxiety, a habit of silence, a way of loving, a talent, a prejudice, a faith, or a way of seeing the world. Trace where it came from and describe one moment when you consciously accepted, reshaped, or rejected it.
Others
- Write a piece in the voice of your mother or father. Have them share heartily their quirky memories about none other than you. For example, the time you cut the nipple off a baby bottle and dripped milk all over your father’s books. If you can’t remember specific childhood memories, feel free to make up a few interesting moments.
- Write a piece about one or more of your intense fears. Or you may write about one or more phobias you have. For example, do you have alliumphobia or fear of garlic? Or how about enetophobia, a fear of pins? You can also check https://www.healthline.com/health/list-of-phobias for a list of common phobias.
- Take anything that is passed down—an heirloom, a recipe, a family saying, a superstition, a craft, a secret, a story, a debt, etc. Write a piece as if you are passing that thing down to someone who will, in turn, pass it to the next generation. Some possibilities (feel free to move away from these): The piece could simply describe what is being transmitted or the process of transmission. Or you may also write it as if it is the very vessel of transmission like the chants of our ancestors.
- Imagine yourself opening a very old catchall drawer. What items will you find? What do they tell about the possible owner?
Lelang - lola sa tuhod
alintak
by Pinky Aguinaldo
- Isulat ang panahon kung kailan naging mabigat sa iyo ang umuwi. Saan ka nagpunta? Anu-ano ang mga bagay na ginawa at nakita mo? Paano mo napagaan ang mga paa na pumihit pabalik?
- Ilarawan ang pinto ng bahay at mga nakapaligid sa bukana ng bahay. Ilarawan ang mga susi at mga palamuting kasama nito. Alalahanin ang mga kwento at karanasan ng pagbukas at pagsara ng pinto. Mga oras na hindi mabukasan ang pinto o mga hindi inaasahang pag-anyaya.
- Ilarawan ang amoy ng inyong inuuwian (maaaring aktuwal na bahay, tao, hayop, o bagay na tinuturing mong uwian) Isulat ang mga alaala at pakiramdam na nakapaloob sa mga amoy na ito.
- Alalahanin ang isang eksena kung saan may nakatabi kang hindi kakilala sa iyong pag-uwi. Anu-ano ang naaalala mo tungkol sa kanya na tumatak hanggang paghihiwalay ninyo?