In The Waiting Room to the Afterlife

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetleju--

April 1 kicks off National Poetry Month, and perhaps my favorite part of the month is that my favorite poets often release a month’s worth of poetry prompts.

Poetry prompts are creative starting points designed to inspire new writing. They can be a single word, a phrase, a visual cue, or even a structured challenge—like writing a poem in a specific form or from a particular perspective. I’ve seen prompts based explicitly on Taylor Swift song titles.

For many writers, including myself, prompts offer a fresh lens through which to see the world, often leading to unexpected poems.

A handful of poems I’ve created, inspired by prompts, even end up in my books! Including this one I am about to share…

“In the Waiting Room to the Afterlife” was a poetry prompt from poet Amy Kay that I immediately knew I was going to write a poem around. Mostly because I have always loved the movie Beetlejuice.

This poem is now featured as “Track 5” in The Music Was Just Getting Good,

"Track Five"
From The Music Was Just Getting Good by Alicia Cook

In the blinks between
what was and what is
there is a room.
Those who have died
take a ticket, a seat, and wait.

They flip through photo albums
filled with the grins of
everyone they ever loved.
They sip their favorite beverage
and snack their favorite snack.
(All complimentary, of course.)

Parting messages from the living
blare over the intercom,
and their most beloved memories play
on a loop across the screens 
suspended above their head.
(Projected on 35mm film
no matter the decade.)

When they glimpse out the window,
it’s their preferred time of year.
Then, their name is called – 
pronounced correctly.

In the waiting room to the afterlife,
deserving souls are given peace.

The last thing they see
isn’t unfamiliar or jarring—
not the face of hate or
a shattered windshield.
The last thing they feel
isn’t fright or pain—
not the grip of disease or
strange and unusual hands.

You see,
in the waiting room to the afterlife,
deserving souls never die confused.
No matter how brutal, sudden,
lonely, or boring.

To them,
it’s always just like falling asleep.