Que Sera  Sera
Taken From The Man Who Knew Too Much (Hitchcock-1956)

Fate  surrender  and the winding road ahead.​
Design a poem where each stanza begins with “What will be…" Reflect on different stages of life  mirroring the song's progression from childhood to adulthood.​

Reflections:
How do we confront the unknown at various stages of life?​

What does surrendering to fate look like in different contexts?​

Can acceptance bring peace amidst uncertainty?​

Consider the song's lyrics  which transition from a child's innocent questions to an adult's contemplations about love and the future. ​

Example
What will be the dreams of youth 
When questions bloom in search of truth?
Will stars align or drift away 
As dawn unfolds another day?

Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock  1951)--

Chance  charm  and chilling consequence.
Write a poem that begins with a casual encounter--two strangers  perhaps on a train  in a café  at a crossroads in the woods. The conversation is ordinary at first: weather  travel  hobbies. But beneath the surface  something begins to twist. One of them suggests a chilling idea--impossible  absurd... or is it? And the other  caught off guard  neither agrees nor refuses.
Let your poem simmer in that grey area of almost. The deal is never sealed aloud  but the gears are set in motion. Let unease build line by line. Guilt may bloom slowly or pounce in the final stanza. The poem should balance charm and dread  fate and free will.

Crossed Lines:
What makes the conversation feel “off" to the speaker?

Is there a moment they could’ve stopped it--but didn’t?

How do subtle cues--tone  gesture  silence--betray intent?

Who is truly responsible when no one speaks the final word?

Let every word matter  every pause hold weight  and what’s unsaid echoes louder than what is. Write a poem that allows the reader to feel complicit in the choice.

Poetry Prompts (The Birds   Hitchcock  1963)
Compose a poem where nature rebels unexpectedly against humanity. Personify birds or other elements of nature to express underlying societal tensions or anxieties
At first  everything seems calm: a gull’s cry  the rustle of feathers  the everyday flutter of wings. But then there's a sudden shift. Birds begin to gather. Their movement is no longer random. Their cries feel sharper. Their presence becomes… ominous.
Use your poem to capture the moment when the natural world becomes unnatural--when beauty takes on menace  and silence becomes suspense. Let the tone move from tranquil to terrifying in increments  much like the film itself. Is there a reason for this revolt  or is it simply nature reminding us of its ancient power?

Echoes in the Sky:
What is the first sign that something is wrong?

How does the speaker respond to this growing unease?

Are the birds symbolic of something deeper--grief  guilt  change  warning?

Is there shelter to be found  or must the speaker face the winged storm?

Your poem can take the shape of a gathering storm--light at first  then charged with panic and awe. Let it soar  strike  and linger  feathers and fragments falling where they may.

With the Folon sculpture "The Rain/Man of Rain" in mind. It is situated on Via Aretina  Firenze--a short distance away from the FAA and the Arno ... I know it well.

Where the Light Gathers Rain
(for every dream that dared the rain)

I found you folded small inside the crate 
A breath away from rising into form.
I pulled the cord and waited by the gate 
And watched you gather color from the storm.

You shimmered like a ship against the blue 
Your walls were thin but strong enough to climb.
I almost thought I saw the world made new 
And counted every hour as borrowed time.

But morning pulled the sky too far away;
Your edges sagged and emptied in the sun.
No hands could hold the light you tried to stay 
No thread could bind the thing we had begun.

Still sometimes when the fields are soft with rain 
I think I see you rising through the mist.
A ghost of silver stretching out again--
A dream too brief  but far too sweet to miss.

So here’s my hand  a wave into the sky 
A wish sewn lightly through the breaking blue:
Float where the better  brighter chances lie;
I’ll build no trap to try and capture you.
Mari  27/04/2025

He Ain't Heavy
--the bearers of time carry the heavens

I took his weight before I knew his name 
A shape that leaned without a word or plea.
The road was long  the stars were much the same 
But now I felt their light fall differently.
His hand  half-lost in mine  was soft and still--
A trust unasked  yet offered all the same.
I bore him not through duty  but through will 
A love that never seeks the badge of fame.
But then he spoke  and I was not the strong:
He named the stars I'd never dared to see.
His song  though soft  became my marching song.
The one I carried now was carrying me.
And burden  once a word of aching tone 
Now sings of joy -- for I have not walked alone.

Mari  28/04/2025
I was travelling in Italy in April and there's a statue of St. Anthony in the Basilica in Padua that interlinked in my mind with the original prompt. The town I grew up in had a big connecion to the Franciscans  they were/are good guys  and good community men.
Mari Fitzpatrick
12 April at 05:08 --
Shared with Public
12th April 2025  Poetry Prompt
From 'Boys Town:' He Ain’t

The Stair Made of Stories
Opening Verse:

If you open your eyes on the breath of a wish 
You may find a world curled in the shape of a dish
Or a stair made of stories that rise without end 
Where each step is a question  each railing a friend.

Prompt:
Imagine a realm where each step you take leads you deeper into a narrative universe--a staircase woven from tales  where every ascent unveils a new story  and every handrail whispers secrets of the past. Build a poem that embarks on this journey  exploring the fusion of imagination and reality.

Considerations
Begin with a moment of quiet reflection or a whispered wish.

Describe the transformation of the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Let each stanza represent a step  revealing a new facet of this imaginative world.

Infuse your poem with sensory details to bring the fantastical elements to life and have a bit of fun ...

Optional/Optical Inclusions
Questions that challenge the narrator's perceptions.

An oval-shaped world or object symbolizing the unexpected.

A staircase that defies conventional architecture.

Personified elements (e.g.  a railing that offers advice).

Poetry Prompt: Dial M for Murder (Hitchcock  1954)

Write a poem structured like a ticking clock. Begin with calm--a party  a phone call  a dinner being set--and slowly build toward a planned act that hides beneath civility. Someone in the poem knows more than they should. Someone else is about to be betrayed.
Let suspense build through time: minutes pass  small details accumulate  a plan unfolds under the guise of routine. The tension should rise not through violence  but through the slow  inevitable march toward it.
You might write from the perspective of the one being set up  the one doing the setting up  or an observer (even the clock itself).
The ending can twist--failures  reversals  or last-minute revelations welcome.

What details reveal the deception before it’s fully exposed?
Is the act coldly calculated  or born from desperation?
Who is the victim really--and what does “victim" mean here?

How does time itself pressure the poem  pulsing underneath?

Each stanza composed is a tick closer to something that cannot be undone. Let the reader feel the dread tighten like a noose made of words.

Rebecca (Hitchcock  1940)
--the shadowed corridors of Manderley and the ever-present echo of someone gone but not gone.

Poetry Prompt:
Write a poem haunted by someone who is no longer physically present  but whose influence remains--thick in the air  etched into walls  echoing in speech  gestures  habits. This figure might be a lover  a rival  a parent  or even a former version of the self. They’re never named outright  never directly addressed--but they shape every corner of the poem.

Let your verses drip with memory  unspoken comparisons  quiet dread. The speaker might be trying to live a new life  build a new relationship  or simply exist--yet the ghost of the past is always watching  judging  influencing.

From the Wings:
How does the presence of this figure make itself known?

What has been left behind--an object  a scent  a routine?

How does the speaker's current relationship bend under the weight of this memory?

Does the speaker long for this figure  fear them  or resent their hold?

Paint a manor full of locked doors  cold fireplaces  and whispers down empty halls. Illustrate not the ghost--but the space they’ve never quite left.

April Poetry Prompt: North by Northwest (Hitchcock  1959)

Write a poem that drops the speaker--or a character--into the middle of a thrilling chase  the result of a case of mistaken identity. They don’t know why they’re being followed  only that someone--or something--is closing in. The story must be told in fragments  as if overheard on a train platform  glimpsed from a taxi window  or shouted across a wind-swept field.

Keep the poem breathless and tense  with clipped lines  swift transitions  and unexpected turns. Use disorientation to your advantage. You’re crafting a poetic fugitive’s tale--complete with glamour  danger  and the heady rush of not knowing what comes next.

Reflections:
Who does the world think you are  and who are you really?

What is chasing you  and what are you running from?

Can you trust the stranger offering you shelter--or are they part of the plot?
Where is the turning point  the place where you decide to stop running or take control?
Let your lines race like a train through the night  with danger at every crossing and revelation waiting just beyond the horizon.