Writing Prompts: Walking in Winter

Free Write Prompt

Tell me about a walk in the winter: pre dawn, midday, evening? In solitude, in anger?

Poem Prompt

Write a contemplative poem about winter walking. Do you relish it, endure it, get mystical about it? Whatever your mood is about winter walking, let that tone be evident in your poem.  Let your word choices and imagery illustrate that tone.

Example Poems

Walking by Flashlight
by Ted Kooser

Walking by flashlight
at six in the morning,
my circle of light on the gravel
swinging side to side,
coyote, raccoon, field mouse, sparrow,
each watching from darkness
this man with the moon on a leash

Copyright Ted Kooser from Winter Morning Walks: Postcards to Jim Harrison, 2001

Something Extra

Jazz composer Maria Schneider (left) and soprano Dawn Upshaw collaborated on the album Winter Morning Walks,  2013.  Schneider took some poems by former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, who lives in Garland, Neb., and set them to music. Hear an interview with the poet, the composer, and an excerpt from "Walking By Flashlight" in the link above.  

"I love all his books, but Winter Morning Walks is, to me, the most moving," Schneider says. "You know, I'm from southwest Minnesota. They feel — the landscape, the light, the things he describes — I mean, they're so, so beautiful."

Hear the full song of "Walking by Flashlight" on the right.

And, as we approach the end of the year, a reflection from Ted Kooser's Local Wonders, a book of essays.

Share lines from your writing with these prompts, or thoughts from your listening.  How do the different mediums of written text, spoken performance, singing, and music change meaning and intention? 
​Best wishes in your end of year reflections.
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