I love words. Words are magic spells we use to create the world around us. Whether spoken, written, thought, sung, or signed, words are the way we connect with ourselves, others, and the meaning of it all. They’re our way of creating the meaning of it all.
Which is why, last year, the intense shadow of AI and everyone’s reasons for using it felt like a sort of dark magic. A ‘one ring to rule them all’ vibe. (Yes, I rewatched the Lord of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies over the holidays.) So, even though I wasn’t sure I had the energy to host February Poetry Adventure (FPA) this year, I decided to do it anyway. Because the pen is mightier than the sword, and creation is more affecting than generation, and human thought is more beautiful and meaningful and important than AI. Because community matters and takes effort to keep connected. And I love our community!
After I decided I was going to host FPA again, I set to work on polishing the word list and making the imagery. And that’s when I knew it was the right thing for me to do because I got excited. February is a dreary month. Grey and muddy and dark. But I can already imagine myself sitting with a hot drink, a snack, listening to my FPA playlist, and curling up with my thoughts, my words, and my imagination. I can play with the sounds of words. The rhythm of reading. I can let my feelings flow onto the page. I can explore them. Shape them. Change them.
And, selfishly, I can read Adam’s poems! :) I love the way he sees the world. So differently than I do. And I love seeing the way you see and experience the world. After reading your poems from our past Adventures, I experience the world differently. I often think about Tara Connor’s earring-stealing mouse, Thomas Rist’s tea in foxholes, Margaret Ann Silver’s damp book pages while helping her child breathe, Lisa Andradez’s kissing gate, Melanie Betanelli’s floating playground as seen by children and engineer, 26th Avenue Poet’s last two lines on knitting, Bonnie Orbison’s gossiping walls, and so many more of your poems. How amazing is that?! We share our experiences so we can all softly and slowly shift our view of the world. So we can grow our understanding of each other and ourselves. So we can create space for ourselves and each other.
This will be the fifth year I’ve hosted and participated in FPA. And I’m honestly proud of myself for sticking with it. Not just because it’s one of the longest projects I’ve been part of, but also because I walk away changed every time. I can’t wait to see what this year brings.
With that, if you feel like joining in on February Poetry Adventure 2026 here’s a quick list of guidelines.
What FPA Is About
February Poetry Adventure is about embracing exploration, imperfection, and creation. It’s about allowing the muses to tickle our brains, souls, and hearts. It’s about playing and having fun. It’s about remembering we’re all human. It’s also about connecting with other brave adventurers and supporting each other in this art called poetry and the process of being human.
Here’s how it works:
I’ll post a Note every day with the optional prompt. I’ll also have a post here, on Petra Glyphs, where I will update the prompts and links daily.
Write a poem! Whatever kind you like. It doesn’t have to match anyone else’s definition of what a poem is. One line, three, twenty, whatever. Rhyme, or not. Serious or goofy. Let yourself play.
You can absolutely keep the poem to yourself. You’ve still succeeded in your Adventure!
Or, you can share your poem (or a link to it) in a comment on the daily corresponding prompt Note.
You can miss a day, or two, or ten, and still pop back in. Adventures have pit-stops. Do what’s right for you. 😀 (And feel free to join in at any point along the Adventure.)
As far as community guidelines, if you choose to share a poem, please no AI-generated poems and no hate speech or excessive violence. Otherwise, let’s leave room for each of us to have our own viewpoints, our own experiences, and most of all, lead with respect and understanding that we are each on our own journey.
Feel free to drop any questions in the comments section and to share this with people you think would enjoy coming on the Adventure as well. 😀
You can find our current 2026 prompt list here.
Cheer People On
To me the community of FPA is just as important as the art of poetry. We are the people creating. I said it last year and I mean it even more this year, I want to focus on us as human and us as community. So, whether you share poems or not, I’d love if you’d hop into the comments section of the daily Note and give people some love and encouragement.
Instagram
I also post my poems on Instagram, @Petraglyphs. In the past I’ve used the hashtag #FebruaryPoetryAdventure but Instagram and AI have broken hashtags and it’s now much harder to find your poems so I’ll mostly be reading poems here on Substack.
Let’s Adventure!
Get your snacks ready, brew your beverages, and grab your favorite pen and notebook because we’re almost ready to explore. I can’t wait to see what we all come up with. And watch for the first prompt word on Sunday, February 1, 2026.
Love you, Petra ❤️
P.S. The link to my FPA playlist is here on Spotify. And it’s got songs by some good friends. :)
P.P.S. You can still check out the prompt lists and poems for 2025 and 2024.
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I love hearing your thoughts and comments on these posts. As always, this means I’m trusting you the reader to give me the benefit of the doubt if I say something weird, or create space for something which doesn’t align with what you think or where you are in your journey, just as I’ll do for you. And please extend the same courtesy to fellow commenters. This is a space to respect each other and the fact that being human is both amazingly beautiful and fucking complicated. Thank you for your respect.
This is so cool! Just subscribed and added this to my calendar so I don't forget. Can't wait to see how it unfolds.
Just saw this and subscribed. Thanks for doing this.