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"When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom'd, And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night, I mourn'd--and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring."

Walt Whitman writes these opening lines about the death of Abraham Lincoln, evoking a feeling of great sadness without immediately mentioning death and without ever mentioning the President. Later in the poem, he breaks a sprig of lilac. Birds warble their lament, church bells toll, long and winding processions solemnly accompany a coffin, and the poet places the sprig of lilac on that coffin. The poem certainly mentions death, but you get a clear idea of what's going on without those mentions.

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THE EXERCISE:

In 300 words or less, write a scene, a description, or a story implying someone or something has died...a friend, a public figure or a dream, a hope, an era, etc.

Try to avoid explicit references. Allow the reader to sense what happened, or perhaps infer it.

When critiquing a submission consider whether the essay strikes an appropriate mood, and whether the reader can deduce what's happened.