From the following link:
If you think you don’t have time to write, think again. See what you can produce with a simple set of writing prompts and ten minutes of your time with this creative writing exercise inspired by Rita Dove’s exercise “Ten-Minute Spill.”
Write for ten minutes, incorporating a common proverb, adage, or familiar phrase (“between the devil and the deep blue sea,” “one foot in the grave,” “a stitch in time saves nine,” “the whole nine yards,” “a needle in a haystack,” etc.) that you have changed in some way, as well as five of the following words: (I used them all)
cliff, blackberry, needle, cloud, voice, mother, whir, lick.
I chose “A Stitch in Time.” Here goes:
The blackberries on the cliff must be cut.
I go there each day with clippers,
ready to tame the wild vines creeping toward our house.
But I never cut a stem,
for one lick of their fruits is like bliss.
When the clouds roll in,
I find myself lost in their needles.
And I hear my mother’s words,
like a whir in my mind,
“For every stem left uncut nine more will follow.”
