Welcome to The Daily Aftershock Writing Prompt—a daily invitation to write from the edges of aftermath, memory, rupture, and repair.

Each day, you'll receive a short, charged prompt designed to crack something open. There are no rules, only resonance. Use these however you need: to begin a poem, to open your diary, to find your voice again.

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Write a poem or scene that begins in darkness, and is suddenly lit by an unexpected glow. A neon sign. A jellyfish bloom. A lighter sparked in a blackout. Fluorescence in grief.

Let the light be artificial, garish, or surreal. Let it shimmer against the mess, not purify it. What truths does it reveal in sharp pink or cold blue? What becomes visible under this new light? And what remains hidden?

Use dissonance: the glitz of neon against trauma, the beauty of bioluminescence in decay. Push toward transformation, not resolution.

Here’s a poem of mine that was published by The Rialto in January:

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