Life/Lines 2021

A poetry project featuring the creative work by the faculty, staff and students of Washington University and the greater community beyond

Life/Lines 2021

During the month of April (National Poetry Month), the Center for the Humanities invites you — whether you’re a published poet or you have never written a word of poetry in your life — to create short poems in response to a daily prompt. All are welcome! We hope this daily poetry practice will generate and sustain the Life/Lines among us.

All poems — in any language — will be published on our website on a rolling basis. No judging or editing, and authors can decide whether or not they want their names included. Every week, we share this work with our community.

Last year, more than 350 of us from all corners and walks of life wrote more than 1,200 short poems! You can browse those poems and read more about the project by following this link

Submitted Poems

Prompts

April 30

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     edifice
     blue
     glassy
     tender
     flow 

Today’s words were contributed by your Life/Lines project team: Jean Allman, the J.H. Hexter Professor in the Humanities and director of the Center for the Humanities at Washington University; Ignacio Infante, associate professor of comparative literature and the center’s associate director; and Kathleen Fields, the center’s publications and communications editor.

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 30

April 29

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     reservation
     shine
     triangulation
     electrify
     exploration 

Today's words were contributed by guest curators at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center, who are students in the Washington University Prison Education Project.

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 29

April 28

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     raccoon
     skyscraper
     tablet
     dining
     record 

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Jo Schaper, who has been writing poems on her own since she was 10 years old. She earned a BA in writing from Missouri State University. After a lifetime in printing, publishing and nonfiction writing, she currently runs Geo Communications Services and Paw Paw Poets Publishing, LP, and is an associate of St. Louis Poetry Center and the St. Louis Publishers Association. Her published work includes WAM&T: Tracks Back to Tranquility, Texas; Riding the Twister; The Kansas Cowboy Blueberry Angel; and most recently The Paw Paw Almanac and Reader (2019), with another collection, River Songs and Wayfaring Sagas, currently in process.

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 28

April 27

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     crow
     swallows
     moan
     lavender
     dive 

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator January Kiefer, who has long been involved with the St. Louis arts community as a teacher, writer, artist, storyteller and workshop leader, and who has carried her work across the nation. She is as inspired by the headline images of Life/Lines as she is by the contributed words themselves and sometimes uses them as a sixth “visual word” to spark a poem.

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 27

April 26

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     caramel
     delight
     slither
     glistening
     hope 

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Blake Strode, executive director of Arch City Defenders. 

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 26

April 23

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     otherwise
     intimacy
     archives
     structural
     grief 

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Bethany Nowviskie, Dean of Libraries, Senior Academic Technology Officer, and Professor of English at James Madison University. This afternoon, she will give the James E. McLeod Memorial Lecture on Higher Education, “Cultural Memory and the Peri-Pandemic Library” (free and open to all; registrations welcome through start time at 2 pm).

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 23

April 22

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     improv
     solo
     heart
     song
     unison 

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Peter Martin, an acclaimed jazz pianist and entrepreneur. Over the past 25 years he has performed at most of the major venues and jazz festivals on six continents, including twice at the White House for President Obama. He is the founder of Open Studio, pioneering in the field of online jazz education. (Check out Connected in Place, a live stream concert from Open Studio every Friday at 8 pm ET.) Peter was recently featured in the New York Times for his groundbreaking work. 

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 22

April 21

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
    tremble
    filament
    ember
    arc
    reconcile 

Today’s words were contributed by guest curators Robert Henke (father) and Gwyneth Henke (daughter), both regular participants in Life/Lines. Robert is professor of drama and comparative literature at Washington University, and director of the Prison Education Project. Gwyneth graduated from Washington University in May 2020, with a major in religious studies and a minor in creative writing, and is now the executive administrator at Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis.

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 21

April 20

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
    learn
    listen
    build
    flow
    community 

Today’s words were contributed by guest curators Faith Sandler and Félipe Martínez, who work together at The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. They collaborated with nine artists to compose Know Us, a digital exhibit in celebration of the many students who’ve come aboard along the way to the organization’s recent centennial year.

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Poems submitted for April 20

April 19

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
    liquefy
    peach
    ruse
    buck
    radiant 

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Aditi Machado, a poet, translator and essayist. Her second book of poems Emporium (Nightboat, 2020) received the James Laughlin Award. Her other works include the poetry collection Some Beheadings (Nightboat, 2017), an essay pamphlet titled The End (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2020), and a translation from the French of Farid Tali’s Prosopopoeia (Action, 2016). Her writing appears in journals like The Chicago Review, Lana Turner, The Rumpus, Volt and Western Humanities Review, among others. She works as an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati.

Poems submitted for April 19

April 16

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
    dog-eared
    politicians
    jest
    purple
    sync 

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by Jeannette Cooperman, writer for The Common Reader, WashU’s journal of the essay. You can read more of her work here.

Poems submitted for April 16

April 15

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     un ange (“angel”)
     une glace (“a mirror,” “an ice-cream”)
     fier (“proud”)
     un enchevêtrement (“entanglement”)
     une saison (“a season”) 

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Lionel Cuillé and the students enrolled in FREN 325 “Defining Difference.” Cuillé is founding director of the French Connexions Cultural Center at Washington University, which was recently elected to the Centers of Excellence of the Embassy of France.

Poems submitted for April 15

April 14

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     fray
     error
     buttermilk
     glass
     precedent

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Ted Mathys, author of Gold Cure (Coffee House Press, 2020) and three previous books. He teaches at Saint Louis University and serves as president of the board of directors of the Saint Louis Poetry Center.

Poems submitted for April 14

April 13

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     process
     preposterous
     belief
     human
     fatigue 

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by the Kling Undergraduate Honors Fellows at Washington University.

Poems submitted for April 13

April 12

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     aroma
     sizzle
     crisp
     satisfied
     sharing

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Beverly Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Washington University in St. Louis.

Poems submitted for April 12

April 9

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     spirit
     galaxy
     blue
     fire
     moon

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Jane Ellen Ibur, Poet Laureate for the City of St. Louis. She frequently posts poems on this Facebook page.

Poems submitted for April 9

April 8

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     mother
     sister
     slumber
     mushroom
     handle

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Jae Kim, translator of Cold Candies and current PhD student in the Comparative Literature program at Washington University.

Poems submitted for April 8

April 7

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     behind
     days
     stone
     light
     begin

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Abram Van Engen, associate professor of English at Washington University and co-host of the Poetry for All podcast.

Poems submitted for April 7

April 6

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     write
     beat
     nerve
     sound
     cry

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Olivia Lott, translator of Lucía Estrada’s Katabasis and finalist for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. She is a PhD candidate in the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures at Washington University and a Graduate Student Fellow in the Center for the Humanities.

Poems submitted for April 6

April 5

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     healing
     humane
     hopeful
     heterogeneous
     harmonious

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Feng Sheng Hu, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and the Lucille P. Markey Distinguished Professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

Poems submitted for April 5

April 2

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     burgundy
     river
     doorway
     footstep
     decision

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Aaron Coleman, a recipient of a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. He will graduate with his PhD from the Comparative Literature Program’s International Writers Track this spring. For more information on his poetry, research and translations, click here.

Poems submitted for April 2

April 1

Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines. Submit your poem at this link.
     mercy
     hilarity
     gathering
     child
     deviltry

Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.

Today’s words were contributed by Walter Johnson, the Winthrop Professor of History and professor of African and African American studies at Harvard University. He is author of The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States and the keynote speaker for today’s Faculty Book Celebration (4 pm) and Panel Discussion (12 pm). 

Poems submitted for April 1

 

Headline image: NASA via Unsplash