Location, Memory, and the Geography of the Soul

Location, Memory, and the Geography of the Soul

Welcome to the last day of our guided poetry prompt challenge! Today’s prompt is zip codes. A boring little box on a form. ooooorrrrr a sacred set of digits that hold your origin story, your heartbreak, your grandma’s kitchen, the first street you learned to lie on. This is your map. And poetry is the vehicle.

Why “Zip Codes” Work as a Poetry Prompt:

• They’re tiny time capsules. A zip code isn’t just a number - it’s a where and a when.
• They evoke a specificity that makes poems sing. Think “Yes, that mailbox. That block. That smell.”
• They trigger emotional memory - you’re not just writing about a place, you’re writing about you in that place.
• They naturally invite contrast and movement: “the one I came from vs. the one I escaped to.”

Ways to Use This Prompt in a Poem:

• Use a zip code as your poem’s title, then describe a memory or feeling linked to that place. Let the numbers anchor the emotion.
• Write a letter or confession addressed to a place. What do you need to say to the zip code you never went back to?
• String several zip codes together - a migration map of your life in fragments.
• Let the zip code become metaphor: “90210 taught me pretty doesn’t mean safe.”
• Invent a fictional zip code where a different version of you could live. Who is she there? What did she choose differently?

This is the poetry of where you were when, and sometimes that’s all it takes to open up the whole damn story. So go ahead. Write the zip code down. And start telling the truth. Thank you so much for joining me on this challenge. I hope that this helped you dive deep, to push your own poetic boundaries, to discover new poetic possibilities that you didn’t even know existed, and to write about things you never thought you’d write about!

If you enjoyed this challenge I hope you’ll consider joining me on substack as a paid subscriber where you’ll get full access to the continuation of guided journaling in August and also a course launching in September that is focused on finding, fueling, and fortifying your poetic voice!

You can subscribe here: elliehoovs.substack.com - click on any of my posts and you’ll find the subscribe button within them.

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XoXo

Ellie