Talicha J. Poetry

The FreeWrite: Week 50 Prompt

word + word = wordword

Talicha J. Poetry

Jun 04, 2026

Hi Friends!

This week’s prompt is a word that comes from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows:

“starlorn n. a sense of loneliness looking up at the night sky, feeling like a castaway marooned in the middle of the ocean, whose currents are steadily carrying off all other castaways-entire worlds and stars whose only remnant is a scrap of light they flung overboard centuries ago, a message in a bottle that's only just now washing up on our shores.”

From star, a luminous dot in the cloudless sky + -lorn, sorely missing, Pronounced “stahr-lawrn.”

This word looked pretty, so I chose it. I think the last time I actually felt starlorn was when I was on a boat years and years ago. There’s something about the vastness of the ocean that just puts you in your feelings, I guess. Lately, while looking at the sky, I feel something completely different; I feel connected. That’s because I’ve really got into the moon. When I look up and see it, I say “Hi Moon!” and soak up its energy for a bit, and I feel like I’m part of something. Still, I decided to go with “starlorn” as our prompt because I have felt unmoored like that before. And with the way life is cyclical, I’m sure I’ll feel that way again someday. Take some time to consider if you’ve had this phenomenon yet. What made you feel this way? How did you shake the feeling, or has it never gone away? If you haven’t had it yet, what do you think it would take for you to feel this way? Who or what would you need to be disconnected from to prompt it? Bonus challenge: come up with your own word to describe this feeling.

Fun fact: during Pub Party last week, someone asked the group what our favorite literary devices were. I said kenning, which is a two-word phrase used in place of a one-word noun. Example: star + lorn = starlorn / book + worm = bookworm, etc. Someone else brought up that The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows was basically a big ole book of kennings, and I got so excited because IT IS! And of course I had it within arm’s length, so I had to wave the book in front of the camera lol. Anyway, I obviously had to make the next prompt for The FreeWrite a kenning from this book.

If you need a reminder of how The FreeWrite works, you can check out the full details here, but the short version is this:

→ You free write—whatever that looks like for you.

→ Then drop a link to your writing in the comments of this post so we can read and celebrate each other’s work by commenting.

No pressure to be polished. Just show up. That’s the magic.

Happy free writing friends!

About me:

Talicha J. is a Black queer poet, teaching artist, and Pushcart Prize and Best of Net nominee. She was a 2024 Collaborating Fellow at The Poetry Lab. Her debut collection, Falling in Love with Picking Myself Up (2015), led to a national tour and helped grow her presence as a poet. She is currently an Assistant Managing Editor with Fahmidan Journal.

In June 2024, she released her chapbook, Taking Back the Body, which won the Beyond the Veil Press chapbook contest. She is a Co-Founder of Campfire Creatives, curates online generative workshops, and hosts a monthly publication submission space. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming with Torch Literary Arts, Peach Fuzz, Lucky Jefferson, Just Femme and Dandy, Button Poetry, and more.