Personification time!

Happy weekend! It was slow at my work so I randomly wrote down some prompts that may be fun or interesting to try and personify in a poem. Here are some ideas, feel free to add more and share your pieces on this thread :)

- a beached whale
- letters from your future self
- your greatest fear, in a physical form, taking you out on a date
- a hot air balloon crashing
- an acceptance letter in the trash
- an empty cookie jar
- the silence before a kiss
- a misunderstood coyote
- a teacup with a tiny crack at an antique shop
- a forest fire
- burning tires
- the bottom of the ocean floor
- a leaf stuck to windshield wipers
- leftover confetti from New Year's celebrations
- a teabag in the toilet
- salty lip balm
- a cup of cold, stale coffee
- a phone constantly ringing
- a bloody elbow
- the last sheet of toilet paper
- a crushed spider
- a jar of pickles
- the star on a Christmas tree
- a garbage/ trash can left out in the cold
- explosive diarrhea
- paintbrushes in the sink
- a camera lens on the street
- an echo in an abandoned house
- a broken mirror found in your attic
- a humorous poem
- chickens in a closet
- a stained cashmere sweater
- a moldy cheeseburger
- sour milk
- your favorite childhood stuffed animal
- a slinky
- clothes drenched in the rain
- a sneaker that's underwater
- a singing staircase
- spam email
- a tasteless pizza
- muddy fingernails
- an overcrowded gym
- a meeting room filled with tension
- a broomstick that gives you blisters
- a pen that has magical powers
- a unicorn that can grant wishes
- socks soaked in bleach
- a single button trapped in a washing machine or dryer

Any takers? I'll start!

a cup of cold, stale coffee:

I sit in the fog, forgotten,
rain pooling in my cup.
I shiver but you don't see -
you are eons away,
thinking about a love
that isn't yours;
if you warm me up,
I can comfort you.
Won't you let me try?

a phone constantly ringing:

My screaming nerves
try to reach
that ghostly carousel of song:
"ring a ring of roses"
drowns me, drown me
with an empty voice
of ashen tears.

spam email:

i know you're lonely, i can see
it in your eyes - you've been
searching for something more,
well Love, here i am. just send
me a thousand dollars through
western union, for my plane
ticket.

a leaf stuck to windshield wipers

You have made it abundantly clear
that our tour de force is running blind
yet we continue as we are, never willing
to stop the motorcade long enough
to clear the debris on the glass.

It is entirely possible we will eventually creep
into old age at twenty-five miles per hour:
not getting anywhere fast in this relationship
yet slow enough to avoid major collisions
all for want of the cleaner fluid of change.

Yes, love these! Keep them coming.

- a tasteless pizza

I'll come right out and say it,
I'm not what you hoped for,
what you were craving.
I don't have much meat
or layers for you to relish,
and my sauce isn't enough
to make your eyes roll back
in delight.
I'm sorry if I ruin your night,
I'm just another poorly made
disappointment in a
droopy cardboard box.

- a hot air balloon crashing

The air within me,
has been cooling down.
And from up here,
you are getting bigger
rather fast.
The thought of me
hugging you,
deflates me even
faster.

A Garbage Can left out in the Cold (in UK called Rubbish Bins or Bins)

A bin's for life but easily forgot
cast out in all kinds of weather
A spittoon for your household waste
from food scraps to a feather

Alone he stands so proud and brave
with naught to eat but scraps
Devoid of clothes to keep him warm
he endures the coldest snaps

Unfair I cry tis such a shame
to work so hard for others
Yet relegated to stand outside
away from his smaller brothers

So have a heart this winter night
don't leave him out all alone
consider this his cold, lonely plight
and remind him he has a home

These are so good!

- leftover confetti from New Year's celebrations

I've strayed so far
from your hands,
how you first regarded me
with infectious childlike glee.
I lit up the room,
gracing each corner
of the room.
I ran through her hair,
trickled down your neck,
and now we're strangers.
The party's over,
the memory finished,
the living room just a
living room.

When you wake,
you'll use a dust pan
to bury my remains,
and I'll say goodbye
until the next year.

A meeting room filled with tension.

Shirts pulled from the neck
sweat hurtling down the side
of faces
Itchy beards
and noses twitch.

The ends of pencils nibbled
like sticks of rock-
some weaved between fingers

Snap!

The backs of chairs rub up
the wrong way.

The weight of my pen rests
upon my shoulders,
as I take the minutes.

The final agenda arrives

-any other business.

-a forest fire

The rage within me is rubbing
me the wrong way.
I feel the heat kneading my trunks,
leaves become spices to the
moisture I have left,
as life flee off my branches.

I hear them wailing, for I have
paralyzed them. The smell
of the burnt fur can’t escape my
senses, and I see little ones hugging
their mothers, begging for dear life.

- a singing staircase

I call out to her
when she darts by
to let her know
she is not alone.
I've seen her first steps,
cautious, then filled with joy.
She used to run and dance,
her footsteps light then heavy
as I sang her the blues.
Now, I hear tired and weary feet
when she comes home.
Sometimes, she can't muster the
strength to make it down the steps,
so I hold my notes a little longer,
refusing to be silent for too long.

I sing in ballads now, hoping
to one day invite her to dance
like the olden days.