PROMPT #46
BY DOROTHEA LASKY
Right now, in New York City, there is something like a blizzard going on outside.
The wind is howling in ferocious circles and the snow is moving diagonally across the window.
As I look out at the snow, I am reminded of the Bob Dylan line, from his song “Isis”: “the snow was outrageous.”
Which in turn makes me think of the word outrageous and its root of outrage and of course, rage.
The word outrageous to me has always meant audacious and bold. Maybe something outrageous is shocking, but it doesn’t mean to be exactly and it’s in a soft way.
Anyway, in honor of the outrageous snow of the NYC Blizzard of late February 2026, here is a PROMPT.
1. Listen to Bob Dylan’s song, “Isis,” while looking out the window. (Even if it isn’t snowing where you are currently.)
2. Read “The Way to Keep Going in Antarctica” by Bernadette Mayer.
3. Listen to “Wild Is The Wind” by Nina Simone":
She just had a birthday two days ago, 2/21. Happy Birthday, Nina Simone!
4. Write a list of ten sounds that are in the snow, but you can’t ever hear them.
5. Now turn all of these sounds into adjectives.
6. Write the word “snow” 10 times on your page, and then turn the page to a blank page.
7. Write your 10 adjectives on a new page, and then turn the page.
8. Take a nap near a window. Just before you fall asleep, consider a green leaf.
9. When you wake up, read “Self-Pity” by D.H. Lawrence.
10. Text the first person you think of and say “I miss you,” even if you aren’t sure that you do.
11. Now write a 10-line poem or 10-sentence story called “The Wild You.”
Dorothea Lasky is the author of several books, including MEMORY (Semiotext(e); Silver Press) and the forthcoming, Mother (Wave Books). She is currently writing a book about Sappho. She teaches poetry at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a co-editor of PROMPT.