by Esther J. Santiago
Ah, Valentine’s Day—sips cup of hot cocoa—the one day to splurge on yourself or a loved one. It’s also the one day when it’s tolerable to be cheesy. No? There’s no excuse for being cheesy? What do you think?
Throughout the first half of February, we are bombarded with roses, chocolates, the gigantic teddy bears, the Hallmark letters, the cheesy rom-com movies, and the never-ending love songs. In honor of el dίa del amor y la amistad, we converted our follower’s favorite love songs into micropoetry prompts.
Some of our followers’ favorite love songs (submitted through our Instagram) include:
- “Space Girl” – Frances Forever
- “Apocalypse” – Cigarettes After Sex
- “Driver’s License” – Olivia Rodrigo
- “invisible string” – Taylor Swift
- “Mayonaka no door / Stay With Me” – Miki Matsubara
- “Love you for a long time” – Maggie Rogers
- “Serendipity” – BTS
- “The very thought of you” – Ray Noble
- “La Vie en Rose” – Èdith Piaf
- “Kiss me” – Sixpence None the Richer
Each song served as a daily prompt, but the writers were free to include any type of love in their micropoems: agape, self-love, friendships, crushes, platonic, heartbreak, paramours. The good ones. The sad ones. Everything in between. The poems we’re sharing today were sent by some of our incredible followers on Instagram.
Prompt for Day 01: “Space Girl” – Frances Forever
“center of my universe
you fill the void
i was looking for”
Prompt for Day 02: “Apocalypse” – Cigarettes After Sex
“breaking the walls we created
you saw through them
and found me”
Prompt for Day 03: “Driver’s License” – Olivia Rodrigo
“windshield wipers wiping the rain away
i thought you were my home
now this car is my only shelter”
Prompt for Day 04: “invisible string” – Taylor Swift
firm was the hand of fate
“golden strings like class rings
knotting us at pressure points
and fingertips
pink of mind and, sublimely, pink
of lips
my bones have always known it
would be you”
Prompt for Day 08: “The Very Thought of You” – Ray Noble
“seeing your face was a cliché
everywhere I go
but the thought of you
kept me holding on to hope”
Prompt for Day 10: “Kiss Me” – Sixpence None the Richer
“the gaze in your eyes
as our faces leaned in closer
holding on so gently
you kissed me slowly”
Whether it is the holiday mood or this post that has inspired you to write a little, feel free to send us your micropoems! We’d love to hear from you.
Many thanks to our social media poets for sharing your wonderful works with us. To our readers, we are honored and grateful for all your support for aurora. If you would like to see more daily prompts, let us know!
(Instagram: @aurora_journal, Twitter: @aurora_journal)
(If you’ve read all the way up to here, thank you. As a little bonus, here’s one of my favorite love songs: “The Only Exception” – Paramore.)