Promoting freedom’s flame to distant lands
Sparking transgender fires to backwards folk,
IF they obey the Pentagon’s commands
Or lose the loans they signed for (what a joke);
Progress and stability up in smoke
In the name of Savior America;
Preaching fake democracy as a cloak
For Malthusian esoterica—
Don’t know what that means? Then go look it up
And show us that you are not merely slow,
Drinking from your low-information cup.
As we bomb villages to dust—hello. 
And then pave it over to build a mall
Paid for with your taxes . . . this is your call.

PROMPT #27:  write an “American sonnet”.

adipose asinine America:

beastly yeast in obscene obesity
swell-swigging wig-gagging reflex
exposed midriff butt-lift grifters
wiggle-waddling weight around woo woo town
thick fake fingernail fail
day-glo sick show sale
ghetto-guffaw designer-clawing
wherever wits were wanting
jiggle-giggling juvenile thing in a thong
sing song sung dumbass thang sang
pajama-jamming baby-daddy mammy
loudmouth proud plebe crowd
smirk-smoke the joke in cannabis choke
crass fat ass-crack blackjack
queer queen king thing of a
bipolar solar son of a
tied up in hyped-up lowlife lockdown
cluelessly curating dimwitted day
descending darkly to dusk.

You GO, girl.

PROMPT 26

write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance, and assonance.
Alliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words.
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words,
and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds.

Perfect happiness’ greatest fear?
The Other is deplorable.
Extravagance is insincere;
Proust’s mustache is adorable.

I’m only up to number seven.
Uninspired, its time to bail
If Marcel P. was barred from heaven
His essays were a massive fail.

Marcel Proust, you silly fellow
Prose overwrought, effete and gay,
Puffy mama’s boy marshmallow
You’re Hell’s to toast . . . now roast away.

May virtue’s signalers all thus burn;
This uninspiring questionnaire
Will mainly cause one to discern
That heads are up their derrière.

True verse can never be a list
Of humanistic questions asked.
More fit that some psychologist
Should have their godless soul thus tasked.

PROMPT 25: write a poem based on the Proust Questionnaire,

a set of questions drawn from Victorian-era parlor games, and adapted by modern interviewers.
You could choose to answer the whole questionnaire,
and then write a poem based on your answers,
answer just a few, or just write a poem that’s based on the questions.

On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose . . .

Networking, presenting the numbers
Adjusting the data for benchmarks
Reviewing best practices
Speaking vapid motivational drivel
Accompanied by pastel-toned slideshows
Full of dull corporate graphics—

On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose . . .

Acting with intention
Staying centered
Celebrating balance and cultivating awareness
Curating selfless acts of charity
(yet still suppressing God at heart)
Being connected in authentic community—

On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose . . .

Believing in yourself to achieve your goals
Seeking your own inner light to guide you
Recognizing how deserving you are
Working towards what makes you happy
(denying there will be a judgement of your soul)
Creating your own reality—

On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose . . .

PROMPT 24:

write a poem that begins with a line from another poem, but then goes elsewhere with it.

Lucifer in Starlight

ON a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose.
Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend
Above the rolling ball in cloud part screened,
Where sinners hugged their spectre of repose.
Poor prey to his hot fit of pride were those.
And now upon his western wing he leaned,
Now his huge bulk o’er Afric’s sands careened,
Now the black planet shadowed Arctic snows.
Soaring through wider zones that pricked his scars
With memory of the old revolt from Awe,
He reached a middle height, and at the stars,
Which are the brain of heaven, he looked, and sank.
Around the ancient track marched, rank on rank,
The army of unalterable law.

George Meredith (1828–1909)