Solve for X

This prompt is inspired by Oliver de la Paz poem “Solve for X” which has inspired a great deal of thought and writing for me of late.

de la Paz notes:

‘Solve for X’ is part of a sequence of poems about my son who’s on the autistic spectrum. I’ve been attempting to understand the way he perceives the world and I’ve been using cause and effect models as poetic templates. Word problems requiring the mathematician to solve for an unknown, thus, have become a metaphor for how we negotiate our relationship as father and son.

I love this line:

A spasm of radio and the accident of understanding
what it means to be X

We all have unknowns in our life that we are struggling to solve, to understand, and that is an incredibly important writing prompt to explore and some very meaningful writing can come in response to our search. Spend some time writing in response to the idea of solving for X where X can represent any part of your life that you want or need to know more about whether it is your past, present, or future andwhether it is a person, place, or thing. Personally I’m working through my hopes and goals for the future while coming to terms with my present. Let us know if you find this prompt inspiring!

Artwork by Flickr