Write a Poem for Poetry Month!

Write a Poem for Poetry Month!

By Karen L. Totten

Writing a poem can be fun!  

Yes! It’s true!

How do you start?  

With words, of course!  

And a few short lists.

Robert Frost

Beginnings:  Invention and Inspiration

Begin by listing four or five animals you like.  For example: Mice frogs dogs hamsters

Or, you might list some favorite foods:  Examples: ice cream spaghetti tofu  broccoli

Perhaps you love being outdoors. List a few nature words.  Examples: Clouds maple trees rocks

Remember: any object or thing can be on your list.  There is no correct answer.  You are inventing and allowing yourself to be inspired.  Let words flow.

Next, pick some action words.  Like these: slide, float, churn,  melt bark freeze wave shrink

Begin Combining

Take a couple words from one of the object/thing lists and put it together with some action words.  Caution: don’t put together two words that someone might expect.

Not:  clouds float  or skates slide

Instead:   trees churn     or dogs wave      

You can also add some descriptive words, but use them carefully.  

Remember, a poem is not a list of descriptions but a unique-to-you view of the world.  

Again, here is a list of descriptors:  green, bitter, sweet, lazy, grainy, plastic

Begin Your Poem

Write a line:   green (color—describes ) ice cream (food--object)  shrinks (action)

As you write, say why or where or how or when something happened. You can use “as” or “like”.

                  The green ice cream shrinks with each lick of my tongue.

Fill in the Details

Finally, go back and expand the poem by adding phrases or words that more specifically describe the ice cream, the shrinking, or licking the cone.

Break your lines into shorter chunks, as with a poem.

Like so:   My mint ice cream cone

               shrinks and shrivels

               like a melting iceberg

               with every lick

               of my now numb tongue.

Voila!  A poem.  All it needs is a title.  

Try writing one poem a day for a week during Poetry Month.   7 days.

Type them or get someone to help you.  Staple the poem pages along with two blank pages for cover and back.

Or punch three holes along the left side of each page, plus cover and back. Tie together with yarn.

Give your book a name.  Decorate with stickers, drawings, photos .  

Congratulations!   You’re an Author!

Here are some examples of Poems by students (from 10-Second Rainshowers, by Sandford Lyne)

A Taste of Poetry by Students

Masters

We march out of the classroom

like angels in front of the teacher,

but when we get outside onto

the soft earth we run and yell

and fight and scream.

We are no longer angels.

We are masters of childhood.

                            --Jennifer Edwards, Grade 6

                                                          The wind I can’t see

                                                           but I feel and hear

                                                           and it must be a spirit

                                                           for when it passes

                                                           I see trees

                                                            bow down to worship.

                                                                                  --Nello Caramat, Grade 5