National Poetry Month – Day 18

Theme: Things I Inherited

Not everything we carry was chosen. Some things were passed down through blood, through behavior, through silence, through survival. Habits, fears, strength, patterns, beliefs. Some we honor. Some we unlearn. Today we explore what was given to us without permission.

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Prompt 1 – Inherited Wounds

Write a poem about pain, patterns, or struggles passed down to you from family. This could be emotional, generational, or behavioral. What did you receive that you didn’t ask for?

(Angle: generational trauma)

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Prompt 2 – What Lives In Me I Didn’t As For

Write a poem about something you carry that came from someone else. This could be strength, habits, phrases, love, survival skills, or ways of seeing the world.

(Angle: legacy / influence)

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Prompt 3 – Abandoning the Carousel

Write a poem about something you inherited that you chose to break, challenge, or walk away from. A cycle, a pattern, a mindset you refused to keep spinning in.

(Angle: breaking cycles)

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