W3 Prompt #199: Wea’ve Written Weekly

My Brand New

The time for me has just now come
to test what is inside of me
I think of what I’ve gotten done
For now is a time that I’m free

It came out as one bad surprise
Told that I no longer belong
No warnings or long loosened ties
I don’t know what I have done wrong

But strength is my superpower
Moving on will be something new
It may take a day or an hour
Something that I’m looking to do

I will start a brand new for me
Life will now be peaceful and free

©2026 CBialczak

Elizabeth’s prompt: Love yourself

February is the month of love. Valentine’s Day has just passed, and many of us marked it by expressing affection for partners, family, and friends. But how often do we turn that same attention inward?

This week, the invitation is simple: write a love sonnet to yourself.

Let this line guide you:

There is in you something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in Yourself … that is the only true guide that you will ever have.— Howard Thurman (1899 – 1981)

A love sonnet is a 14-line poem centered on intense emotion—often romantic love. Here, the beloved is you: your striving, your wounds, your endurance, your becoming.

You may choose one of the two traditional forms:

Petrarchan Sonnet

• 14 lines
• Iambic pentameter
  • Each line has 10 syllables, divided into five pairs (called “feet”)
  • In each pair, the first syllable is soft (unstressed) and the second is strong (stressed)
  • Sounds like da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
• Rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA CDECDE or ABBAABBA CDCDCD
• Structure: an octave (8 lines) + a sestet (6 lines)
• A volta (turn) marks the shift into the final section

Shakespearean Sonnet

• 14 lines
• Iambic pentameter
• Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
• Structure: three quatrains (4 lines each) + a closing couplet
• A volta typically occurs before the final couplet

Show some love to yourself!