1. Procedural writing as poetry
How to Eat A Poem
by Eve Merriam Don't be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your finger and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are. You do not need a knife or a fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth. For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin to throw away |
Notice in "How to Eat a Poem" by Eve Merriam the poet is giving the reader specific instructions. This poem is a type of procedural writing. Now it's your turn to write a "How To" poem.
Other examples: "The First Book" - by Rita Dove |
2. Speaking directly to an object or non-human
Little Blanco River
By Naomi Shihab Nye You’re only a foot deep Under green water Your smooth shale skull Is slick & cool Blue dragonfly Skims you Like a stone Skipping Skipping It never goes under You square-dance with boulders Make clean swishing sound Centuries of skirts Lifting & falling in delicate rounds No one makes a state park out of you You’re not deep enough Little blanco river Don’t ever get too big |
Notice in "Little Blanco River" by Naomi Shihab Nye that the speaker of the poem is speaking directly to the Little Blanco River. Try writing a poem in which the speaker speaks directly to an object or something non-human.
Other examples: |
3. Writing a poem About someone we know
Tia Chucha
by Luis J. Rodriguez Every few years Tia Chucha would visit the family in a tornado fo song and open us up as if we were an overripe avocado. She was a dumpy, black-haired creature of upheaval who often came unannounced with a bag of presents, including homemade perfumes and colognes that smelled something like rotting fish on a hot day at the tuna cannery. They said she was crazy. Oh sure, she once ran out naked to catch the postman with a letter that didn’t belong to us. I mean, she had this annoying habit of boarding city buses and singing at the top of her voice - one bus driver even refused to go on until she got off. But crazy? to me, she was the wisp of the wind’s freedom a music-maker who once tried to teach me guitar but ended up singing and singing, me listening, and her singing until I put the instrument down and watched the clock click the lesson time away. I didn’t learn guitar, but I learned something about her craving for the new, the unbroken, so she could break it. Periodically she banished herself from the family - and was the better for it. I secretly admired Tia Chucha. She was always quick with a story, another “Pepito” joke or a handwritten lyrics that she would produce regardless of the occasion. She was a despot of desire, uncontainable as a splash of water on a varnished table. I wanted to remove the layers |
Notice in "Tia Chucha" by Luis J. Rodriguez the speaker reflects upon their knowledge of and relationship with another person. Now try writing a poem about someone you care or wonder about. Think of how you want to portray the person to the reader.
Other examples: |
4. Using poetry to tell a story
Oranges
By Gary Soto The first time I walked With a girl, i was twelve, Cold, and weighted down With two oranges in my jacket. December. Frost cracking Beneath my steps, my breath Before me, then gone, As I walked toward Her house, the one whose Porch light burned yellow Night and day, in any weather. A dog barked at me, until She came out pulling At her gloves, face bright With rouge. I smiled, Touched her shoulder, and led Her down the street, across A used car lot and a line Of newly planted trees, Until we were breathing Before a drugstore. We Entered, the tiny bell Bringing a saleslady Down a narrow aisle of goods. I turned to the candies Tiered like bleachers, And asked what she wanted - Light in her eyes, a smile Starting at the corners Of her mouth. I fingered A nickel in my pocket, And when she lifted a chocolate That cost a dime, I didn’t say anything. I took the nickel from My pocket, then an orange, And set them quietly on The counter. When i looked up, The lady’s eyes met mine, And held them, knowing Very well what it was all About. Outside, A few cars hissing past, Fog hanging like old Coats between the trees. I took my girl’s hand In mine for two blocks, Then released it to let Her unwrap the chocolate. I peeled my orange That was so bright against The gray of December That, from some distance, Someone might have thought I was making fire in my hands. |
Notice in "Oranges" by Gary Soto, the poem is actually a narrative (story). Some poems tell stories! Now you try writing a poem that tells a story. Your story can be fictional or true. Be sure to think carefully about when to begin a new line.
Other examples: "Baseball" - by Bill Zavatsky "How I Discovered Poetry" - by Marilyn Nelson "In My Closet, On the Top Shelf, Is a Silver Box" - by Gary Soto |
5. Poetry with extended metaphor
The Poem
By Amy Lowell It is only a little twig With a green bud at the end; But if you plant it, And water it, And set it where the sun will be above it, It will grow into a tall bush With many flowers, And leaves which thrust hither and thither Sparkling. From its roots will come freshness, And beneath it the grass-blades Will bend and recover themselves, And clash one upon another In the blowing wind. But if you take my twig And throw it into a closet With mousetraps and blunted tools, It will shrivel and waster And, some day, When you open the door, You will think it an old twisted nail, And sweep it into the dust bin With other rubbish. |
Notice in "The Poem" by Amy Lowell, the poet compares a poem to a twig throughout the entire poem? When a poet keeps a comparison going through multiple lines (or stanzas) it is called an extended metaphor. Now try writing your own poem using extended metaphor. Think of something you are very familiar with. Now compare it to something else. Talk about your familiar object by talking about what you compared it to. Other examples: "Hope is a Thing With Feathers" - by Emily Dickinson "My Life" - by Joe Wenderoth. |
6. Playing Around with punctuation
A Teenage Couple
by Brad Leithauser He said, or she said (Desperate to have their say), You know, we may not last forever... And on that unthinkable day (She said, or he said - Somebody needed to know), Who will be the last to turn and look After we’ve agreed to go Our separate ways? (Which one, that is, will be the one To watch the other hobbling off, Black against the sun?) |
Notice how "A Teenager Couple" by Brad Leithhauser uses a variety of punctuation to a variety of reasons. The parenthesis add extra information. The ellipses (...) tell the reader not only how to read the poem and that more information is coming. The poet also uses the dash (-), the question mark (?), and commas (,) for a variety or reasons. Now you try writing a poem and experimenting with various punctuation. If you are unsure of how to use a punctuation mark, take your best guess or research it on the computer.
Other examples: |
7. Writing directly to someone in our lives
Dear Mama (4)
by Wanda Coleman when did we become friends? it happened so gradual i didn’t notice maybe i had to get my run out first take a big bite of the honky world and choke on it maybe that’s what has to happen with some uppity youngsters if it happens at all and now the thought stark and irrevocable of being here without you shakes me beyond love, fear, regret or anger into that realm children go who want to care for/protect their parents as if they could and sometimes the lucky ones do into the realm of making every moment important laughing as thought laughter wards off death each word given received like spanish eight treasure to bury within against that shadow day when it will be the only coin i possess with which to buy peace of mind |
Notice that in "Dear Mama" by Wanda Coleman the speaker of the poem is speaking directly to his/her mother. This is obvious not only by the title but by the use of second person (you). Now you think of someone you could speak directly to in a poem. It could be a family member, a friend, a teammates, a coach, a religious leader/mentor, a mentor, a teacher, etc.
Other examples: |
8. Writing from the perspective of an object/nonhuman
The Vacuum Cleaner's Revenge
by Patricia Hubbell I munch. I crunch. I zoom. I roar. I clatter-clack Across the floor. I swallow twigs I slurp dead bugs. I suck the car hair From the rugs. My stomach full Of dirt and dust I gulp another Pizza crust. A tiresome life- All work, no play- I think I'll swallow you today! |
Notice how the poet takes the vacuum's point of view? Think of one of the objects you used for your scientist's vs poet's eyes activity. Write a poem from the perspective of that object.
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