For years, we've been offering a prompt at the end of every Rattlecast episode, to encourage folks to write new poems for the next week's open lines. At the end of every episode, Timothy Green announced the next week's prompt. Write yours within the next week to share it on the open lines, and submit it to this category by the end of the month to have it considered. Series editor Katie Dozier will select her favorite poems, which will be published as one of Rattle.com's daily poems. The winner each month will also receive $100. 

Submissions for the Prompt Poem of the Month are not anonymized—we still want to encourage everyone to share their weekly poems on the Rattlecast's open lines—but choices are still being made solely based on the poem's merit. Submit as many poems as you'd like to this category, but only poems written for the current month's prompts. A winner will be chosen after the first week of every month. 

Prompt for December 4th: Write a poem about a pain from childhood, and use a refrain. 

Prompt for December 11th: Write a poem that begins with an idiomatic expression that you take literally or incorrectly, and see where it goes.