Hello dVerse Poets! This is Merril, and today is Prosery Monday, where we write prose instead of poetry. Prosery is a dVerse form. To participate, you take the line of poetry that I will give you below and insert it into your prose. I would prefer using a poetic line as inspiration, but that is not the prompt! So, do make certain you give attribution for the line.

For Prosery, your prose—fiction or nonfiction—may be up to 144 words, not including the title. Some people like to make it exactly 144 words, but that is not required. You must use the given line, and you may not alter the words, change the word order, or insert words into the line. However, you may change the punctuation.

Arthur Sze became the United States Poet Laureate in 2025, following Ada Limón. He was born in New York City in 1950, but he now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was the first poet laureate of Santa Fe. His poetry collection, Into the Hush (Copper Canyon Press) was long listed for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He has written twelve books of poetry, and he has received numerous honors and awards. He is also a noted translator of Chinese poetry.

I was not familiar with his work, but it is remarkable. It’s clear, accessible, and powerful. You can read more about Arthur Sze and check out some of his work here.

For this Prosery Prompt, I’ve chosen the following line

“I am the creature who smells your darkest thoughts”
From “Jaguar Song.” Read the entire poem here.

This is the line you must use for this Prosery prompt! Please follow the rules for the prompt!

I may be late opening the pub today, but I’ll the door unlocked. Help yourself.

If you’re new to dVerse. Here’s how to participate:

–Write a piece of prose, fiction or non-fiction, up to 144-words, incorporating the given line.
–Post your story on your blog and link back to this post.
–Enter your name and the link to your post by clicking Mr. Linky below (remember to check the little box to accept the use/privacy policy).
–Read and comment on your fellow storytellers’ Prosery pieces. We all like to have our work appreciated. There will be a great variety of wonderful stories, I’m certain!