Illustration by Ana Hinojosa.

Illustration by Ana Hinojosa.

Whenever I (Pixie) get a bit stuck, I go back to one of the first kinds of poetry I ever learned how to write—the traditional Japanese form known as haiku. There’s something about the structure—five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, five syllables in the last line—that I find inspiring, as it takes some brainstorming to make your words and rhythm fit the rules of the poem.

What I’d like you to do this week is to write a haiku every day. You can keep a diary of your week in haiku form:

On Monday I wake
To the sound of my mother
talking to our dog

Or you can pick a theme, say, a week of breakfasts:

I am running late
I hate my iPhone alarm
Guess it’s Pop-Tart day

Going out for brunch
I ordered brioche French toast
le pain grille est bon

Or maybe you’d like to document your wardrobe for a week:

Today is Monday
I’m wearing a lime green shirt
It kind of smells weird

Miss Thompson is wrong
fashion is, like, not her thing
leggings ARE pants, man!

Whatever you choose to do, send us your haikus, along with your first name, last initial, age, and city/state/country to [email protected] with the subject line “Creative Prompt” by Monday, April 4 at 6 PM EST. We look forward to reading your poems.

Last week, we asked you to imagine going on a date with your favorite fictional character. Here’s how your outings went…