W3 Prompt #221: Wea’ve Written Weekly

Posted by ben Alexander

Dear friends,

Welcome to our W³ Poetry Prompt, which goes live on Wednesdays at The Skeptic’s Kaddish. You may click here for a fuller explanation of W³.

II. Selma’s prompt: Let’s write a summer triolet

Summer is hot, sticky, noisy, melty—and perfect for a poem that keeps coming back around.

This week, let’s write a triolet: a playful eight-line poem built from repetition and rhyme.

[Read more about the form here]

The rhyme scheme is ABaAabAB.

The first line repeats as lines four and seven, and the second line returns as the final line. Only two end-rhymes are used throughout, so the poem loops back on itself like a summer thought you cannot quite shake.

Choose one of these summer moments:

• An ice cream cone melting faster than you can eat it
  My ice cream cone begins to melt
• The shock of jumping into a freezing swimming pool
  I leapt into the icy pool
• A mosquito staging a one-insect concert beside your ear
  A tiny buzz beside my ear
• The joy of biting into a cold slice of watermelon
  The sweetest slice of summer fruit

Or choose any summer theme you like: sunburn, sand in your shoes, a stubborn fan, a sudden storm, a lazy afternoon, or the glorious discovery of air-conditioning.

Stay in the shade, keep something cold nearby, and happy writing!

III. Submit: Click on ‘Mister Linky’ below

***

My skin reacted in brilliant red

I spent too long in the sun

Just give me some cool iced tea

No sleep tonight in a hot bed

Just toss and turning, that will be me

Outings now include a shade

Love the beach, but as I said

Too much sun is lesson one.

***

The sweetest summer fruit so nice

A watermelon treat

Red and soft and juice galore

Don’t need to ask me twice

Even when I keep saying “more”

Red drips down from my chin

That sweetness in every slice

Runs on my blouse down to my feet.

***

This is a difficult poetry form☺️

http://skepticskaddish.com/2026/07/22/w3-prompt-221-weave-written-weekly/