Anyone who have read the Hitchhiker’s guide to the universe knows that that answers can be much less interesting than the questions.

There are other answers such as “yes”, “no” or “maybe” that make me think of the questions as well. There are even answers such as “mmm” or even silence that make me wonder if it’s not questions that we lack.

Furthermore in the divisive political world I think the art of posing questions has diminished and all I hear are answers.

So when I learned from one of our poets (Gospel Isosceles) about “The Book of Questions” by Pablo Neruda I thought this would be a great prompt that we would write poems consisting only of questions. Consider for instance:

From the book of Questions by Pablo Neruda

III.

Tell me, is the rose naked
or is that her only dress?

Why do trees conceal
the splendor of their roots?

Who hears the regrets
of the thieving automobile?

Is there anything in the world sadder
than a train standing in the rain?

Today I want you to write a poem consisting only of questions. Leave the answer to the reader. You can write it as a single question or as many. You can fill your question with meaning or you can make it abstract, you can make it a closed questions (one that can be answered with yes or no) or open questions.

Or maybe write a love sonnet….

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? — (William Shakespeare)

And for those who comments you can decide if you want to give your answer, or comment the poetry inside.

And if you want question questions that’s also fine with me.

When you have written your poem, please link up your poem on Mr Linky and take the opportunity to read and comment.