Write a poem every day of April with the 2020 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write an isolation poem.

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.

Remember: These prompts are just springboards; you have the freedom to jump in any direction you want. In other words, it’s more important to write a new poem than to stick to the prompt.

Get your poem on with these poetic forms!

In The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Writer’s Digest’s resident poetry expert and former Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere Robert Lee Brewer showcases more than 100 poetic forms to serve as both an informative resource and inspiration for new writing!

After all, poetic forms are essentially poetic games with rules and guidelines that can help focus poets on how to get from line one to line done. This guide includes those guidelines with an example to help writers visualize how to write their own.

Plus, it offers an incredible mix of the old favorites—like the sestina, villanelle, and pantoum—with more contemporary forms—like the fib, golden shovel, and hay(na)ku.

Click to continue.

Here’s my attempt at an Isolation Poem:

“Ode to COVID”

I’ll never take for granted again
Monday meetings with my Cub Scout den
or grocery shopping without a mask,
sanitizing every mundane task,
and social distancing from my friends.

No sleepovers with isolation
causing my children great frustration
and though earlier it was not cool
now they’ll never take for granted school
or the certainty they’ll see their friends.

And yes, I believe this too shall pass
like a strange dream from which we will wake,
but until then, we can raise a glass
to toast each and every breath we take.

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