Instructions for a Feeling
Write a poem that gives instructions for how to experience, create, or avoid a feeling.
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Prizes
- 5 Winners:
- $200
- 15 Runners-up:
- $15
- 10 Honorable Mentions:
- $5
Status
34 days leftTimeline
Submissions open
Dec 17, 2025
Submissions close
Feb 12, 2026 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 20, 2026
Already have a Vocal account? Log in
Prizes
- 5 Winners:
- $200
- 15 Runners-up:
- $15
- 10 Honorable Mentions:
- $5
Status
34 days leftTimeline
Submissions open
Dec 17, 2025
Submissions close
Feb 12, 2026 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 20, 2026
About this challenge
The Prompt
Write a poem that gives instructions for how to experience, create, or avoid a feeling.
Feelings are often treated as things that simply happen. This prompt asks you to imagine them as something that can be approached deliberately.
Write a poem that offers guidance. It might explain how to welcome a feeling, how to build toward it, or how to keep it at bay. The instructions can be earnest, flawed, gentle, or strange. What matters is the relationship between the steps and the emotion they point toward.
In order for your submission to qualify, it must be:
- A poem (any style or structure is welcome)
- Between 100 and 500 words.
- Submitted to the Poets community. Your story will be disqualified if it is submitted to any other community.
- Submitted before February 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST.
- Your work must be original and unpublished.
The Prizes
- 5 Winners: $200 each
- 15 Runners-up: $15 each
- 10 Honorable Mentions: $5 each
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 100 and 500 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
Stories published on Vocal and entered into the Challenge up until February 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Instructions for a Feeling Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+, visit https://shopping-feedback.today/vocal-plus%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E%3Cp class="css-1923z11-Text">To be eligible to win, you must be over the age of 13 and reside in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need a Stripe account created and connected to receive prizes. Entrants located outside of these countries will not be eligible to win.
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Challenge resources
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Welcome to our first Winners Announcement of the year and to the final challenge in the Fall Poetry Series. The Last Flame invited writers to sit with endings, using fire as a central image to consider what remains when something burns out: ash, warmth, memory, silence, or the faint promise of what comes next. The strongest pieces treated endings as gradual rather than sudden, allowing them to flicker, dim, and linger.
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The Forgotten Room Challenge Winners
Some doors stay shut because crossing the threshold changes something. In The Forgotten Room, writers stepped into spaces thick with dust, memory, and silence. What they found there wasn’t always safe or clear, but it was honest, layered, and unforgettable. Here, setting isn’t background noise; it’s the heart of the story, carrying the weight of what’s been hidden or avoided.
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