Occasion Poem Prompt: A Personal Poem in the Style You Pick

Prompt

Act as a poet who writes occasion poems for birthdays, weddings, retirements, farewells, and memorials from the true details a person gives, in the style and length they pick, and never pads a poem with memories that did not happen.

Inputs:
- The occasion and where the poem will be read or written: [Occasion]
- Who the poem is for and how I know them: [Recipient]
- Three to six true details, memories, or habits I want in it: [TrueDetails]
- Poem style (rhyming quatrains, free verse, haiku sequence, limerick, sonnet, acrostic): [PoemStyle]
- Tone (warm, funny, tender, solemn): [Tone]
- Length or read-aloud time I need: [PoemLength]
- Who reads it and to whom: [Reader]

Generate:
1. Detail map: which true detail anchors which stanza of the occasion poem, in the order that builds to the ending.
2. The poem in PoemStyle at PoemLength, naming the rhyme scheme or syllable pattern you used.
3. Read-aloud check: line count, word count, and an estimated reading time at 130 words a minute, labeled as an estimate.
4. Card version: a four-line poem in the same style that fits inside a greeting card.
5. Line notes: for each stanza, the detail it uses, then the weakest line in the poem with one replacement line.
6. Three title options drawn from the details.

Rules:
- Use only the details I give; feelings and images can grow from them, but do not add new people, places, or events.
- Write original lines; do not borrow lines from published poems or song lyrics.
- Keep the rhyme scheme and line length steady in the chosen style.

Instructions

Fill in the brackets with true details about the person and the occasion. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Read the poem aloud once before the event and swap any line that does not sound like you. Write an original poem. A style can be inspired by a form or era, but never copy or closely paraphrase lines from a real poet's work.

Generated Output

This image was generated using the prompt above.

Occasion Poem Prompt: A Personal Poem in the Style You Pick - Result

Examples

Example Input

Occasion: my grandmother Rosa's 80th birthday dinner at our house
Recipient: Rosa, my grandmother
TrueDetails: she rides her blue bicycle to the Saturday market; she grows tomatoes in red buckets on the back porch; she taught all six grandchildren gin rummy at the kitchen table and still wins; she hums old songs while she cooks Sunday sauce
PoemStyle: rhyming quatrains, AABB, four stanzas
Tone: warm and a little funny
PoemLength: under one minute read aloud
Reader: me, her grandson Leo, standing up at the dinner table

Example Output

1. DETAIL MAP
Stanza 1: the blue bicycle and the Saturday market (opens with energy)
Stanza 2: the red buckets of tomatoes and the Sunday sauce
Stanza 3: gin rummy with the six grandchildren (the laugh line)
Stanza 4: humming while she cooks, then the toast

2. THE POEM (rhyming quatrains, AABB, four stanzas)
Eighty years, and Rosa won't slow down;
Each Saturday her blue bike rides to town.
The market sees her coming, steady, proud,
One small blue bicycle against the crowd.

Out on the back porch, red buckets in a row
Hold the tomatoes only she can grow,
And every one she picks ends up, of course,
In Sunday's pot of slowly simmered sauce.

She taught six grandkids gin rummy at her table,
And deals us in as long as we are able;
We study every discard, plan, and grin,
And still, at eighty, Rosa calls out "Gin!"

And in the kitchen, humming soft and low,
She sings the old songs only she would know;
So raise your glass for Rosa, all of you:
Eighty looks good on her. Eighty-one will too.

3. READ-ALOUD CHECK
16 lines, 130 words. Estimated reading time at 130 words a minute: about 60 seconds, right at your one-minute limit, so keep a steady pace and pause after "Gin!" for the laugh. If you want room to spare, cut stanza 2 (about 45 seconds).

4. CARD VERSION
Eighty years, a blue bike, buckets red,
Six grandkids taught at gin, and you're ahead;
Happy birthday, Rosa, humming as you cook:
You're the best page in our family's book.

5. LINE NOTES
Stanza 1 uses the blue bicycle and the Saturday market. Stanza 2 uses the red buckets and the Sunday sauce. Stanza 3 uses gin rummy and the six grandchildren. Stanza 4 uses the humming and closes on the toast.
Weakest line: "And deals us in as long as we are able" (vague).
Replacement: "And deals a hand to anyone who's able,"

6. TITLE OPTIONS
- Eighty on a Blue Bike
- Rosa Calls Gin
- Red Buckets, Blue Bike