My 2026 Poem Collection (so far)
Here are some of the more popular poems I shared this year, so far. Let me know which one resonates with you most. Then keep scrolling to see today’s important Community Notes update.
Hello?
We're all starving for peace for connection for safety for love for authenticity for laughter for a bit of lightness for fill in __this blank__ with a human desire or human need. ... Well, here I am with outstretched arms! ... Hello! ... … Hello? … Is this thing on? … Hello! I see you! Hello! ... Do you see me? … … … Hello???
See the original Hello? poem.
Here’s my 5-7-5 haiku:
Fountain water drips
while my black cat stares sentry
awestruck by bubbles
The prompt for this poem: Breathe in for five seconds, exhale for seven seconds, then breathe in again for five seconds. Do this breathing exercise five times in a row, focusing only on your breathing and nothing else. Now look around you and write a haiku about what you see. See the original post here.
Keep, Toss, Donate
Keep living will Toss dead beliefs Donate explicit trust Keep wishes Toss complaints Donate dreams Keep house Toss curtains Donate sofas Keep intimacy Toss embellishment Donate affinities Keep heirlooms Toss makeup Donate clothes Keep kinship Toss trends Donate comfort Keep meals Toss condiments Donate dishes Keep laughter Toss arguments Donate togetherness Keep framed photos Toss marked calendars Donate used cameras Keep memories Toss regrets Donate stories Keep artwork Toss dried paint Donate easel Keep beauty Toss expectations Donate complements Keep full journals Toss empty pens Donate read books Keep strong verbs Toss adverbial phrases Donate adjectives Keep reverences vibrant Toss lingering animosity Donate ample forgiveness Keep warmth Toss bitterness Donate a bit of grace Keep love Toss hate Donate everything else
See the original Keep, Toss, Donate poem.
Read Write In Between
Empty spaces Between What was What is What will be Lost to False Memories Fleeting Moments Forsaken Dreams Contorted into Recycled copies of Incomplete Drafts Revised Lines and Glossed Proofreads Reported then Rewritten then Published in large caps Across centuries Memorializing Stagnant Whitewashed History Disguised by News that Breaks Transcribing Prescribing Perpetual War Vast Carnage Intense Hostility To repeat Until No More Spaces Exist Between You and Me Former Strangers Turned Acquaintances Found Friends Across the Globe Who record the whole of What was What is What will be By merging My memories Your moments Our dreams Our stories Our truth At once Recaptured Written Recorded Read Together In tandem Between artificial borders Between arbitrary timelines Between lines of fiction to Remember what really was Live what truly is Revise what we will to be and Breathe, Write, Read With no spaces in between
See the original Read Write In Between poem.
The Fall of Ape Authoritarianism
Bared by rival knuckles on the ground Baring baby teeth to false danger Wounded by a slothful pride Wounding all perceived as stranger Threatened by the pursuit of freedom Threatening greedy life in the jungle Disabled by legacies of alpha apparitions Disabling lustful exploits now unbungled Destroyed by silicone manufactured envy Destroying pyrrhic traditions of blind wrath Razed by automatized placeboed gluttony Razing the trumped up paradise you had Tangled by a multitude of sins Tangling spiritual fruit vines with tragedy Rooted by an evolving global realm of sanity Rooting out all remaining faithless majesty Traded by artificial absolution for lush canopies Trading wild tyrannical calls with tamed democracy
See the original poem here.
Bombs Over Iran
Hold Hold Hold Standby Hold Hold Steady Hold Ready Aim Fire Bombs that discharge power and liberty Bombs that destroy targets and diplomacy Bombs that decimate compounds and authority Bombs that disperse militias and hostility Bombs that devastate markets and economies Bombs that drain oil wells and energy Bombs that drown ships and trading Bombs that damage workspaces and agency Bombs that degrade mosques and beliefs Bombs that demolish homes and families Bombs that detonate schools and learning Bombs that dismember services and autonomy Bombs that dismiss archives and history Bombs that distribute indoctrination and hypocrisy Bombs that denigrate souls and beauty Bombs that disguise greed for exigency Bombs that distribute retaliation for revolutionaries Bombs that decapitate regimes for oligarchies Bombs that will distill hate for centuries Hold Hold Hold Standby Hold Hold Steady Hold Ready Aim Fire
See the original poem here.
Fire is Vital
A spark inspires breathtaking energy offering promises and pleas igniting warmth and warnings consuming oxygen and propellant kindling dreams combusting accelerating flames for fire Fire is vital and Fire is death Extinguishing and Nourishing Flames from a spark accelerating burning smoldering fantasies and fuel consuming oxygen and warnings providing heat and appeals enlightening confessions power torching flames for ash Nourishing and Extinguishing Fire is death and Fire is Vital Ash from a flame decelerating intensity incinerating conceits and unreality fading warmth and warnings consuming oxygen and embers smothering vestiges energizing vitalizing sparks for life Fire is vital and Fire is death Extinguishing and Nourishing Peace Love Intimacy Rage Enmity Hate ...
See the original poem here.
Limerick 2: The Chatbot Said
The chatbot said, “Here is the truth,” With confidence naively uncouth. It cited three lies, Two fake studies, four guys— That my uncle now calls his ‘proof.’
Limerick 3: Planet on Fire Rations
There once was a planet on fire, Where summer heat climbed ever higher. We said, “Next year we’ll act,” While the ice caps cracked— Now we ration both hope and desire.
Limerick 4: Monetized
The ad said, “Do what you adore!” So I monetized all of my chores. Now my hobbies are brands, And my joy has demands, And I film myself crying, of course.
Read the other ten limericks in A Limerick … or Thirteen
All that I Desire
All that I desire is a steady breeze that flows like fire through the river waters in my veins to decelerate the manmade flames from racing forward and All that I covet is a gentle rain that pelts like rockets over the sea shoreline of my frame to stabilize the manmade flames from bounding outward and All that I want is a cozy cave that echoes with haunts inside the craggy crevices of my guts to contain the manmade destruc— tion from spreading inward and into All that I crave is a fragrant wild bouquet growing near my grave atop the dusty bones of my starry nights to ventilate the natural aroma of life to waft inside and around the wind for All that I seek is a melody of birds and trees soaring over me beside the outstretched fingertips of my mind to cool the hot natural bloodflow of life to reverberate through the ground for All that I need is a memorial of the organisms of my wakeful dreams beneath the burgeoning fertile soul of my light to shine the precious natural beams of the sun to cascade beyond the stilled sensations within for All that I entreat is an ocean of peace that stretches deep across time and survives the unnatural drives of what I need seek crave want covet desire
See the original poem here.
Today’s Dialogue
If you were to write a poem that captured the essence of what 2026 means to you (so far), what would its title be? Better yet, what would its first and or last verse be?
© This work is not available for artificial intelligence (AI) training. All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.
Community Notes
PAID SUBSCRIBERS
Let me know if you missed the email detailing your Paid Perks that went out. Major thing to know: Moving forward, you will no longer see writing prompts at the bottom of every post. Instead, you will now see them in a monthly Daily Drafters Exclusives post, which will go out on the first day of every month. You will still receive the same amount of BONUS writing prompts every month. You will also see exclusive monthly writing challenges in this monthly post, as well as future Daily Drafters Spotlights. Because July has already started, you can expect to see the first post with BONUS writing prompts (30 prompts), and July’s monthly writing challenge, by mid-week this coming week. While you’re waiting, check out June’s writing prompts.
ALL SUBSCRIBERS
Moving forward, you will notice that daily posts will start to have a more consistent rhythm, as follows:
Sat: Writing Prompts post with a dedicated chat thread to share your writing
Sun: Creative Writing post, where I will typically share my writing based on one of the prompts from Saturday’s post.
Mon: Essays & Reflections post
Tues: Book Reviews post or notes on reading
Wed: Creative Writing post
Thurs: Essays & Reflections post
Fri: Book Reviews post or notes on reading
While this post rhythm might fluctuate from time to time based on holidays and unforeseen situations, it will remain consistent otherwise, and you will still see daily posts. Please also note that Monthly posts (Drafting Diaries series posts and the Drafting and Dialoguing Digest posts) will typically be shared on a Monday or Thursday, replacing Essays & Reflections posts when they are each shared once a month.
Note: You can customize your subscriber email notifications for Daily Drafts & Dialogues in your Substack account to control which posts reach your inbox and which ones don’t. All other posts you don’t receive emails for will still be available to view on the website whenever you’re ready to view them. Currently all Daily Drafts & Dialogues posts are free for seven days until they’re auto-archived to Paid.
