Summer Prompts to Brighten Up Your Poetry
The sun is shining, the air is warm, the days are long—summer’s here! Take advantage of inspiration this season by leaning into your creativity. When you open your notebook, brighten up your poetry with these summer writing prompts.
Write a poem about a summer rain shower
Explore this seasonal contradiction in a poem. A summer rain shower is an effective metaphor for illustrating the complexities of emotion. Consider a sad time period from your life—were there moments of joy that shined through the darkness? Did these experiences help to propel you forward?
Because this visual is so striking, employ detailed imagery to paint a picture of the rain shower. The cool rain juxtaposed with golden, warm sun on your face. Maybe you dance around, rejoicing as the sun shines through a cloudy sky. Further immerse the reader by including other sensory elements of the scene, like the sound of rain hitting the pavement, for example.
Write a summer-inspired eco-poem
This summer, bring attention to climate change and environmental destruction with an eco-poem. Although this is an urgent, complex problem, reject climate doom by focusing on solutions through your creative writing.
Maybe you’ll focus on re-wilding in your poem, taking your reader on a journey as you cultivate native plants in your community. Or, if you’re passionate about marine ecosystems, help to turn the tides by shining a spotlight on ocean-healing efforts. To bring these issues to life and inspire your readers to advocate for change, be sure to incorporate narrative, vivid imagery, or even anthropomorphism.
Write an acrostic SUMMER poem
List your favorite things about the sunny season in a SUMMER acrostic poem. Since this form has a defined structure, it provides you with a creative starting point as you begin writing.
Connect each line by employing a narrative or by listing summer characteristics that are in a specific category. To achieve this, perhaps you’ll write a story about your version of a perfect summer day. Or, you might list your favorite characteristics of the season, including summer memories, a summer bucket list, or aspects of nature.
Write a nature poem about a summer-time animal
As you venture outdoors this summer, you’re bound to notice seasonal wildlife, which can serve as inspiration for a nature poem. Perhaps you’ll observe goldfinches foraging for sunflower seeds, bees buzzing past your ear, or grasshoppers jumping from one blade of grass to another.
Consider researching the symbolism of whichever animal you choose to write about, which can help deepen your poem’s meaning. As you write, let your poem fly off the page by creatively describing the creature’s behavior in detail. For inspiration on writing poetry about animals and nature, read these Mary Oliver poems.
As you spend your days basking in the summer sun, be sure to check out more of our summer-inspired poetry content, like ocean metaphors to help you navigate rough seas and fun ideas for a summer book club.
