Hello YCA Fam,

April is National Poetry Month, and many poets choose to write one poem each day during April to celebrate the occasion. This year, we are going to be posting a writing prompt every day during April to help you with this writing challenge. Many of these prompts were developed by the YCA Artistic team for our weekly writing workshop, Check The Method. If you write poems to these prompts, share them on social media and tag us (@youngchiauthors on Twitter & @youngchicagoauthors on Instagram). 

Here is prompt number 13, which uses a poem by Nate Marshall: 

Note:

Pastoral poetry was traditionally intended to idealize the “innocence and simplicity” of rural life and natural landscapes, in contrast to the “corruption and evils” of city life. Nate Marshall’s work attempts to flip the pastoral tradition on its head by illustrating portraits of Chicago’s South Side.

“…my book employs a ‘hood pastoral’ aesthetic to re-establish the urban landscape as one capable of the greatest beauty…” – Nate Marshall

Names of places in or around your neighborhood (excluding your home) that you visit at least once a week

Places you are excited to go to (past present future)

Places you hold in your memory

Places in Chicago/city of your choice you are fascinated by or really love

Places you remember or are familiar with that are problematic

Candy Store by Nate Marshall (from Wild Hundreds)

on the front porch

or in a basement kitchen

a sour pickle

fat as a child’s forearm

with a peppermint stick

stuffed in the middle

sits inside a jar.

plastic sandwich bag jammed

with Frooties or Tootsies.

past-prime Sour Patch Kids

or fruit chews sticky &

stubborn to the chew.

a piece of hard candy

on a ring & wrapped

in plastic ready to hand

to that neighbor’s cousin

with the light eyes &

white teeth.

salt & sour chips

or the dill flavor

in the bright green bag.

fluorescent barrel juices

With foil tops.

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

turn tongues & fingers

Michael Jordan jersey

red for the rest of the day.

2 crock pots:

orange-yellow bubble of cheese sauce,

dirt brown of ground beef

ready for heat.

Fame Food and Liquor by Nate Marshall (from Wild Hundreds)

we cut down 115th street for a quicker stroll

past the pastor’s house, vacant lot, liquor store.

buses pointing out the hood & back. the route

every morning goes by the liquor store.

the loose Philly blunts and hard & dry. the sour mouth

washed away by a dull gulp of liquor. store

a honey bun in your fat back pocket. pray

nobody notices your awkward walk. this liquor store

sees stumbling often. out front the garish stickers fluoresce

on the wire windows like winos with liquor store

bottles. a small weapon sits behind the counter hidden by the cigarettes

& candy small enough to steal. when the liquor store

is locked up the rolling metals make the window

a pastoral, part of our natural habitat. behold the liquor store:

the sugar waters, the Ziploc bag of coins

& Nate’s tongue the color of loose pennies in the liquor store

Writing prompt:

Write a pastoral poem describing one of the places from your list.