1. Read the poem 

  2. Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you

  3. Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…

  4. Use the selection of prompts below the poem

  5. Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…

  6. Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes

Hippos On Holiday

is not really the title of a movie
but if it was I would be sure to see it.
I love their short legs and big heads,
the whole hippo look.
Hundreds of them would frolic
in the mud of a wide, slow-moving river,
and I would eat my popcorn
in the dark of a neighborhood theater.
When they opened their enormous mouths
lined with big stubby teeth
I would drink my enormous Coke.

I would be both in my seat
and in the water playing with the hippos,
which is the way it is
with a truly great movie.
Only a mean-spirited reviewer
would ask on holiday from what?

Billy Collins
https://billycollinspoetry.com

Please join Writing From The Inside Out by attending the read-around sessions on Friday afternoons. It’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional. If you have not registered, click the button below; and if you have registered, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email.

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No Read Around on 12/24 or 12/31
Next Read Around is January 7 at 4:00 PM PST

My Thoughts

Happy Holidays! Writing From The Inside Out will be on a break for the last two week of 2021.

The next prompt will come out on January 3, 2022
and the next read-around will be on January 7, 2022.

Although I offer no prompts with this poem by Billy Collin’s, Hippos On Holiday, I thought it would be a nice way to close out 2021 with a bit of whimsy, especially since the ”most wonderful time of the year” often comes with a fair share of stress and turmoil. Enjoy your break and I will see you next year!

Prompt Menu

No Prompts this week other than:

Write about anything from the poem or life that inspires you