September 2026
TOGETHER & APART
Togetherness is a necessity to human life, while apartness is an inevitability (or sometimes, a consequence). Though they are typically opposite states of being, there is one thing in common: two or more parts are required to create the proximity which illustrates being “together” or the distance which illustrates being “apart”. This month, try and think about several aspects, people, places, or ideas in your life — and write about how they either come together or fall apart.
*NEW RULE: Your poem must either be a new one following — or an existing one that clearly aligns with — one of the provided writing prompts. You can no longer loosely follow the theme of the month. We will now provide ten prompts instead of six to facilitate this!
TOGETHER prompts
TOGETHER 1: write/submit a poem about a time something came together for you.
TOGETHER 2: write a poem in collaboration with someone else.
TOGETHER 3: write a poem with no line breaks.
TOGETHER 4: write/submit a poem about two things coming together, whether in harmony or conflict.
TOGETHER 5: take two poems you’ve written in the past and combine them into one new poem.
APART prompts
APART 1: write/submit a poem about an event or specific moment that “made your world fall apart.”
APART 2: write a poem where you pull apart the definition of a word you like.
APART 3: write a poem about something that was once, but is no longer, a part of you or your life.
APART 4: write/submit a poem about being apart from someone else, for better or for worse.
APART 5: write a poem about an individual part of yourself, physical or metaphorical.