How to Write a Poem

Your stupid English teacher just announced a new assignment; write a poem. Yeah, like knowing how to write poetry is going to help you get somewhere in life, other than in a line at the food bank. Before you throw your notebook into the corner, grab a pen (or open up a document on the computer) and use this guide as a springboard to help you get started.

First you need a topic or a general idea. If you can write about anything you want, you have it made. If you are told to write about a specific subject like cannons for example, start by making a little list of what you know about them or what sorts of things you think of when you think about cannons. My list might have, "silver, loud, old war weapons, battle cry, history, ghosts, civil war, soldiers, quiet, empty, sad." Don't analyze anything as you are making the list, just tell your inner critics to get quiet. This is not going to be graded and does not even have to be seen by anyone else. Then, once you have a nice long list, you can use it to help inspire your poem.

If you are still having trouble, think about your senses. Poets look hard at things, so ask yourself, 'What would this smell like? Taste like? What color would it be? If you are writing about something that is alive, what is it feeling? Is something ugly? In a poem it is more than that, maybe it is, "as drab as the bottom of my old tennis shoe." Remember that stupid English teacher? She is "as simple minded as the otters who swim in the Deschutes River". Watch out, now you are using simile. And it wasn't as hard as you thought it would be, is it?

Think of Poetry as using words to make a picture of something. You can take that a step further and pretend you are describing your subject to someone who can't see. What would you say about it? Be descriptive and then dig even deeper and add more details so that your reader (the blind person you were thinking of) will understand what you saw.

Remember that free verse poetry does not have to rhyme. You are free to be as wild as you want to be. That is what is great about poetry. Poetry is like English's ornery little sister. She gets away with all sorts of stuff and nobody really minds. Go on and try it and you might discover that you actually like poetry after all.