Spring in Essance
A Spring Writing Invitation from the White Rabbit Poetry Society. We would love to see what you write! Please share your poems with us. Any poem created with a prompt has a chance to be posted on the publication permanently and/or featured in our monthly newsletter. Subscribe to White Rabbit Poetry Society for opportunities to share your poetry.
The Many Faces of Rebirth
The first day of spring 2026 is on Friday, March 20, 2026, at 10:46 a.m. EDT. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this is marked by the arrival of the spring equinox (otherwise known as the “First Point of Aries”).
Spring doesn’t only arrive in gardens. It arrives in second chances, in forgiven words, in the courage to begin again. Spring is the season of renewal.
This month, we’re expanding our view of spring through poetry.
Yes, we’ll notice the sprouts pushing through thawing ground and the returning birds. But poetically let’s notice a friendship we’re gently rebuilding, an old habit we’re finally releasing, a dream we’re daring to try, or maybe a version of ourselves we’re ready to become
Spring is the season of becoming. What is becoming in you? What is sprouting inside of you?
Before you start to write, really pay attention, take inventory of yourself. Be honest, go deep inside.
Sit quietly for five minutes or longer, whatever feels right, with these questions. Write down whatever comes. Words, images, fragments. Don’t censor yourself. Don’t pay attention to form, just flow with it.
What in you has felt dormant? What is now stirring?
What are you ready to release? What new quality are you trying to grow? Do you want patience, courage, persistence, softness?
Is there a connection you’d like to rekindle? Who in your life represents spring for you? Who helps you grow?
What conversation has been waiting for the right season?
What project has been waiting for you to start?
What would it mean to approach your work with green energy?
What ideas do you have? Can you act on them now?
The Writing Prompt
Choose one of the following paths, or follow your own
Path One: The Haiku Path (Traditional Form)
Write a traditional haiku (5-7-5 syllables) that captures a moment of personal or relational spring. Your kigo (seasonal word) doesn’t have to be natural, it can be an image that represents your inner season.
Example-
Dusting off my brush,
the painting I abandoned
blooms again at last.
Path Two: The Free Verse Path
Write a poem of any length exploring the theme “What is rebirthing in me right now?”
Consider these openings:
“What I thought was an ending was really...”
“This spring, I am growing...”
“The hardest bulb to plant was...”
“Forgiveness, like April rain, falls on...”
Path Three: The Inventory Poem
Create a poem in two columns or stanzas:
What Is Falling Away What Is Emerging
(like last year’s leaves) (like first green shoots)
Let the images speak to each other across the page.
Example - Free Verse
What I Released
The need to be small.
The apology before the sentence.
The belief that my voice
is something to be forgiven.
Path Four: A Cinquain
This is also known as a quintain or quintet, and as its names suggest, it has five lines. It can be an entire short poem or a stanza in a longer work. It was developed into the “American Cinquain” in the early 20th century by poet Adelaide Crapsey, who was inspired by the Japanese tanka poem (more about this shortly). Her revised version is unrhymed and has a set number of syllables per line: 2, 4, 6, 8, 2.
Example - Cinquain
Tree Standing
2 Branches
4 Stretch not fold
6 Not cowering to cold
8 Lifting upwards chin held high
2 No sigh
Tips for Your Writing
🌸Be specific. Not “I’m changing,” but “I’m learning to leave voicemails without rehearsing first.”
🌷Let the natural world mirror you. If you’re writing about a healing relationship, maybe a willow sending out new roots appears in your poem.
🌺Permission to be tender. Spring isn’t always gentle. It’s thunderstorms and mud and messy growth. Your poem can be messy too.
💐Notice what’s hard. Rebirth involves cracking open. What’s cracking in you?
A Final Thought
“And then the day came—
when the risk to remain tight
in a bud was more painful
than the risk it took to blossom.”
— Anaïs Nin
What is ready to blossom in you?
We would love to see what you write! Please share your poems with us, whichever path you take, structured or free! Any poem created with a prompt has a chance to be posted on the publication permanently and/or featured in our monthly newsletter.
We are so grateful you are here. Please leave a message if you are inspired. I would love to see what you write. The White Rabbit Poetry Society is a place to find some inspiration and friends. Don’t be shy, add links to your poetry!