For today’s prompt, write a punishment poem. The poem could be about punishing an adult for murder or a child for fibbing about eating extra cookies. Your punishment poem might cover an adequate level of punishment or, perhaps, undeserved punishment. From the perspective of the punisher, the punished, or an objective bystander. Hope this prompt doesn’t feel like punishment.

Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them.

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Poem your days away with Robert Lee Brewer’s Smash Poetry Journal. This fun poetic guide is loaded with 125 poetry prompts, space to place your poems, and plenty of fun poetic asides.

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Here’s my attempt at a Punishment Poem:

“running for my life,” by Robert Lee Brewer

why do i put my body
through the punishment
of daily runs? why do i

lace up my shoes &
get out every other day
to put one foot in front

of the other? nobody
is telling me to do it;
nobody is going to say

anything if i don’t. so
why do i get my heart
rate up and my breathing

heavy, not to mention
my joints? it’s all so much
pain, but then, it’s also

the moments of thinking
about nothing else but
one foot, one foot, one

foot, breathe, breathe,
hands relaxed, elbows back,
deer, squirrel, wind sound,

& my breathing & my
daily life no longer existing
just this moment of pure

punishment that is a joy
to experience & run
the darkness out of me.