Come celebrate the last Thursday of National Poetry Month with me and other Living Poets at the Hillsborough Wine Company, 118 South Churton Street, beautiful downtown Hillsborough, North Carolina. We’ll enjoy wine tastings starting at 6:30pm and see who can compose the most poetically absurd description of the flavors, like “hints of burnt acorns and moral absolutes” before the open mic kicks off at 7pm which will feature truffles from Matthew’s for all poets who read. Bring a new wine poem to entertain the drunken poets in the audience.

In that spirit, here’s today’s poetry prompt:

Take the phrase “(blank) of Love,” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles could include: “Water Bottle of Love,” “Smart Phone of Love,” “Toothbrush of Love,” “Tweet of Love,” or any number of blanks of love. I actually kind of love this prompt and am surprised I’ve never done it before.

The Wine of Love

Love is cliche.
It’s been done
so many poems,
so many songs,
there’s nothing
new to be written.

Just like wine,
which has served
as muse to poets
for as long as grapes
have fermented
in casks.

But the thrill is undeniable
when opening a new bottle
chosen mostly by pretty label
only to discover a delightful
taste left on the tongue,
a warmth in the core
and giddy anticipation
of the next glass.