Praise poems and the poets who write them, plus two writing prompts
A Folio Curated by JP Howard
I love writing praise poems and teaching others how to write praise poems. Praise poems let us acknowledge all the complicated and unique parts of ourselves, while also celebrating the joys in our lives. Praise poems allow a writer to show up on the page or stage, share loss, joy, sadness, and heartbreak, while ultimately celebrating that the writer/poet is still here, still writing, still finding praise-worthy parts of one’s lives to share. This folio showcases the fabulous praise poems of seven phenomenal “Mama” writers. Each poem shared is unique and as I often teach writers in praise poem workshops, many of these praise poems never once use the word PRAISE! I invite you to read and be inspired by our contributor’s poems and share them widely. I’ve also included two short praise poem prompts for you to try your hand at a praise poem or two, as we wrap up this year, along with a short praise poem of mine titled “we circle of love.”
Featured Poets:
Poetry Prompts
Prompt 1: Write a praise poem that is a letter to the best and worst of this past year.
We are approaching the end of the year! Wow! Time flies. Many folks are still living / working from home/ working virtually or in hybrid situations, others of us have been back to in-person jobs for what feels like a very long time, despite living through a pandemic these last few years. So much angst and also so much joy in seeing each other in person finally, often for the first time after a lengthy period of distance. Write a poem as a letter that captures all the complexity of this past year (or past few years); include the worries, the joys, and yes, the complexities/challenges. This is a great opportunity to use your own archival materials if you keep a journal or a diary, use family photos or memorabilia from the past of people/items that you miss or that you finally got to see in 2023. How did you get to where you are today in 2023? Answer that question in this poem.
Prompt 2: Write a list praise poem of all the magical / fierce / unique qualities that you possess!
This poem asks you to celebrate yourself. What are the qualities that you love most about yourself? Sometimes those qualities are not appreciated by others, so in this poem YOU get to celebrate/ honor / document your own fabulous qualities. When this poem is complete your reader will be celebrating along with you, after learning what makes you so unique. Include the complicated parts of yourself too; but celebrate those parts of self. Draw on your inner Leo qualities (Leos often celebrate themselves / no permission needed –yes I’m a Leo!) when working on this poem. If it’s difficult to write this poem, then take a break from it / jot down ideas periodically as you think about the parts of yourself that you would like to include in the final draft and come back to this prompt later, when you can truly focus on celebrating / documenting / highlighting those qualities for your reader. This poem ultimately requires you to focus unabashedly on YOU. Give yourself permission to Big Up yourself in this poem, even if or especially if it is something that does not come natural to you. Use this favorite line I often quote from fierce, black lesbian ancestor poet, Pat Parker as a guide / template for this poem: “The day all the different parts of me can come along, we would have what I would call a revolution.” Bring and celebrate all the parts of yourself to this poem. Let the reader see the revolution that is YOU!
we circle of love
we circle
we gather we
sit and hold hands
in circles we here together
we hear each other we heart
each other we wear our hearts
on our sleeves we heartbreak
we healing hearts we return to
each other we enter and exit
we put palm to palm skin
to skin we familiar we
family we choose
each other we
be circle of
love
JP Howard
JP Howard is a poet, educator, and curator. JP was a recent Brooklyn College Tow Mentor-in-Residence. Her debut poetry collection SAY/MIRROR (The Operating System) was a Lambda Literary finalist. JP has received fellowships from Cave Canem, VONA, and Lambda Literary Foundation. She curates Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon. JP is a general Poetry Editor for Women’s Studies Quarterly and Editor-At-Large of Mom Egg Review VOX online. http://www.jp-howard.com