Que Sera, Sera
Taken From The Man Who Knew Too Much (Hitchcock-1956)

Fate, surrender, and the winding road ahead.​
Design a poem where each stanza begins with “What will be…†Reflect on different stages of life, mirroring the song's progression from childhood to adulthood.​

Reflections:
How do we confront the unknown at various stages of life?​

What does surrendering to fate look like in different contexts?​

Can acceptance bring peace amidst uncertainty?​

Consider the song's lyrics, which transition from a child's innocent questions to an adult's contemplations about love and the future. ​

Example
What will be the dreams of youth,
When questions bloom in search of truth?
Will stars align or drift away,
As dawn unfolds another day?

Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock, 1951)--

Chance, charm, and chilling consequence.
Write a poem that begins with a casual encounter--two strangers, perhaps on a train, in a café, at a crossroads in the woods. The conversation is ordinary at first: weather, travel, hobbies. But beneath the surface, something begins to twist. One of them suggests a chilling idea--impossible, absurd... or is it? And the other, caught off guard, neither agrees nor refuses.
Let your poem simmer in that grey area of almost. The deal is never sealed aloud, but the gears are set in motion. Let unease build line by line. Guilt may bloom slowly or pounce in the final stanza. The poem should balance charm and dread, fate and free will.

Crossed Lines:
What makes the conversation feel “off" to the speaker?

Is there a moment they could’ve stopped it--but didn’t?

How do subtle cues--tone, gesture, silence--betray intent?

Who is truly responsible when no one speaks the final word?

Let every word matter, every pause hold weight, and what’s unsaid echoes louder than what is. Write a poem that allows the reader to feel complicit in the choice.

Poetry Prompts (The Birds , Hitchcock, 1963)
Compose a poem where nature rebels unexpectedly against humanity. Personify birds or other elements of nature to express underlying societal tensions or anxieties
At first, everything seems calm: a gull’s cry, the rustle of feathers, the everyday flutter of wings. But then there's a sudden shift. Birds begin to gather. Their movement is no longer random. Their cries feel sharper. Their presence becomes… ominous.
Use your poem to capture the moment when the natural world becomes unnatural--when beauty takes on menace, and silence becomes suspense. Let the tone move from tranquil to terrifying in increments, much like the film itself. Is there a reason for this revolt, or is it simply nature reminding us of its ancient power?

Echoes in the Sky:
What is the first sign that something is wrong?

How does the speaker respond to this growing unease?

Are the birds symbolic of something deeper--grief, guilt, change, warning?

Is there shelter to be found, or must the speaker face the winged storm?

Your poem can take the shape of a gathering storm--light at first, then charged with panic and awe. Let it soar, strike, and linger, feathers and fragments falling where they may.

The Stair Made of Stories
Opening Verse:

If you open your eyes on the breath of a wish,
You may find a world curled in the shape of a dish
Or a stair made of stories that rise without end,
Where each step is a question, each railing a friend.

Prompt:
Imagine a realm where each step you take leads you deeper into a narrative universe—a staircase woven from tales, where every ascent unveils a new story, and every handrail whispers secrets of the past. Build a poem that embarks on this journey, exploring the fusion of imagination and reality.

Considerations
Begin with a moment of quiet reflection or a whispered wish.

Describe the transformation of the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Let each stanza represent a step, revealing a new facet of this imaginative world.

Infuse your poem with sensory details to bring the fantastical elements to life and have a bit of fun ...

Optional/Optical Inclusions
Questions that challenge the narrator's perceptions.

An oval-shaped world or object symbolizing the unexpected.

A staircase that defies conventional architecture.

Personified elements (e.g., a railing that offers advice).

He ain’t heavy, the old chalk-scrawled words at Boys Town

He Ain't Heavy
—the bearers of time carry the heavens
I took his weight before I knew his name,
A shape that leaned without a word or plea.
The road was long, the stars were much the same,
But now I felt their light fall differently.
His hand, half-lost in mine, was soft and still—
A trust unasked, yet offered all the same.
I bore him not through duty, but through will,
A love that never seeks the badge of fame.
But then he spoke, and I was not the strong:
He named the stars I'd never dared to see.
His song, though soft, became my marching song.
The one I carried now was carrying me.
And burden, once a word of aching tone,
Now sings of joy — for I have not walked alone.

Mari, 28/04/2025

There's a statue of St. Anthony in the Basilica in Padua that interlinked in my mind with the original prompt. The town I grew up in had a big connecion to the Franciscans, they were/are good guys, and good community men.

Poetry Prompt: Dial M for Murder (Hitchcock, 1954)

Write a poem structured like a ticking clock. Begin with calm--a party, a phone call, a dinner being set--and slowly build toward a planned act that hides beneath civility. Someone in the poem knows more than they should. Someone else is about to be betrayed.
Let suspense build through time: minutes pass, small details accumulate, a plan unfolds under the guise of routine. The tension should rise not through violence, but through the slow, inevitable march toward it.
You might write from the perspective of the one being set up, the one doing the setting up, or an observer (even the clock itself).
The ending can twist--failures, reversals, or last-minute revelations welcome.

What details reveal the deception before it’s fully exposed?
Is the act coldly calculated, or born from desperation?
Who is the victim really--and what does “victim" mean here?

How does time itself pressure the poem, pulsing underneath?

Each stanza composed is a tick closer to something that cannot be undone. Let the reader feel the dread tighten like a noose made of words.

Rebecca (Hitchcock, 1940)
--the shadowed corridors of Manderley and the ever-present echo of someone gone but not gone.

Poetry Prompt:
Write a poem haunted by someone who is no longer physically present, but whose influence remains--thick in the air, etched into walls, echoing in speech, gestures, habits. This figure might be a lover, a rival, a parent, or even a former version of the self. They’re never named outright, never directly addressed--but they shape every corner of the poem.

Let your verses drip with memory, unspoken comparisons, quiet dread. The speaker might be trying to live a new life, build a new relationship, or simply exist--yet the ghost of the past is always watching, judging, influencing.

From the Wings:
How does the presence of this figure make itself known?

What has been left behind--an object, a scent, a routine?

How does the speaker's current relationship bend under the weight of this memory?

Does the speaker long for this figure, fear them, or resent their hold?

Paint a manor full of locked doors, cold fireplaces, and whispers down empty halls. Illustrate not the ghost--but the space they’ve never quite left.

April Poetry Prompt: North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959)

Write a poem that drops the speaker--or a character--into the middle of a thrilling chase, the result of a case of mistaken identity. They don’t know why they’re being followed, only that someone--or something--is closing in. The story must be told in fragments, as if overheard on a train platform, glimpsed from a taxi window, or shouted across a wind-swept field.

Keep the poem breathless and tense, with clipped lines, swift transitions, and unexpected turns. Use disorientation to your advantage. You’re crafting a poetic fugitive’s tale--complete with glamour, danger, and the heady rush of not knowing what comes next.

Reflections:
Who does the world think you are, and who are you really?

What is chasing you, and what are you running from?

Can you trust the stranger offering you shelter--or are they part of the plot?
Where is the turning point, the place where you decide to stop running or take control?
Let your lines race like a train through the night, with danger at every crossing and revelation waiting just beyond the horizon.

Alfred Hitchcock: Vertigo (1958) April Poetry Prompts 2025

Write a poem exploring obsession and repetition, spiraling around a single memory or object. Let the reader feel the dizziness of desire and loss.

Detail
Imagine yourself caught in a loop of memory--obsessively returning to a single moment, object, or place that refuses to let you go. Each repetition deepens your attachment, blurs reality, and draws you into a spiral of longing or regret.

In your poem, convey the emotional dizziness that comes with this fixation. Allow your verses to circle around the object of obsession, revisiting it again and again, each time slightly changed by perspective or growing intensity. The reader should experience a sense of vertigo--caught between desire and despair, certainty and doubt.
Reflections in the Spiral:
What single memory or object grips you and why does it hold power over you?
How does each repetition deepen or distort your perception?

In what way does the obsession blur the boundaries between past and present, reality and illusion?

Is your obsession driven by desire, regret, love, or loss?

Let your poem spiral inward, turning tighter and tighter around this memory, until the reader shares in your emotional vertigo.

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