Wordle Poetry

Wordle became very popular very quickly during the pandemic. As a banker, a closed lobby meant fewer customers and more idle time, and I was very bored. Wordle was a great game to play in the mornings, but sometimes it didn’t fill enough time, so I thought of a way to make it part of a creative routine.

Every day, I’d play the Wordle, then I’d challenge myself to use my guesses to make a poem. After a few successful days, I put even more pressure on myself by creating an Instagram profile for this outlet, which I hoped would incentivize me to write the Wordle poem every day. And I did. For eleven days.

Here is one of the poems I shared, along with a screenshot of my guesses:

Like most habits I’ve tried to form, this one didn’t stick. And that’s ok. It was fun, it got me to write some different poems, and I think some of my friends enjoyed them while it lasted. I do still solve the Wordle nearly every day, and sometimes write a poem from it.

I use this failed endeavor as a way to remind myself that it’s ok to give up or even fail at small things. The daily Wordle poem ended up taking too much creative energy to maintain. I found other ways to use that energy that served me better. But it is a fun exercise that I do when I need a little inspiration for a poem.

Maybe you could try it as a writing exercise today!