how to
How-tos for all things poetry; learn how to analyze a poem, construct a haiko, differentiate between a metaphor and simile and more.
Why does painful poetry come more easily?
When I entered into Vocal’s ‘Color is Pride: True Colors’ challenge, I was both excited and intimidated by the project. I realised quite quickly this would be the most personal and likely the most challenged writing experience of my adult life. The last time I had written a poem I was fresh out of high school and in my first real relationship. There was a clear purpose, which helped; write something cute and dumb and that’ll do. Simple enough, right? Somehow it was still surprisingly difficult. It didn’t even need to be good to get the job done. It was very much one of those ‘it’s the thought that counts’ scenarios, but still I struggled.
By Bree Beadman3 years ago in Poets
An Unfinished Poem is Like Banana Bread
Have you ever taken a loaf of banana bread from the oven, and tried to pop it out of the pan right away? It’s too tempting to resist, and more than once, greedy for a slice of hot bread covered in my favorite Irish butter, I have made this mistake. The bread plops out, still steaming, and stubbornly refuses to maintain its form. Removed from the stoneware too soon, it slumps and falls inward on itself, no longer the sleek golden loaf it was meant to be. Any attempt to slice a normal piece from it results in a mound of crumbs and sadness. An unfinished poem is exactly the same: when it’s not quite done, it needs to be left alone for a bit — otherwise, it falls flat. The ideas that originally filled your mind must “cool,” and the trick is to take a break and come back to it later. In the cooling off, clarity crystallizes, and your ideas can break free from the restraints of the writing process. You’ll be able to return to it with fresh eyes, and carve from it exactly what you wanted — but giving yourself the time away is a crucial step in the completion of a good poem. Like all art — baking included — the master must learn from her creation the delicate and critical wait. It’s easier to butter a slice of bread than a mound of crumbs, and it’s more pleasing to read a poem that has been polished and perfected than one that has been rushed. In both cases, the wait is worth it.
By Vanessa Jimison3 years ago in Poets
Saving the World, Photon by Photon
(This poem began life in free verse with the title "Capturing the Sun", but I thought it might be an interesting exercise to rewrite it in a different format, namely a variant of blank verse. This was the format used by Shakespeare to write most of his plays and by Milton for "Paradise Lost". My blank verse falls far short of theirs! Proper blank verse comprises unrhymed iambic pentameters - my poem meets the requirements of lack of rhyme and 10 syllables to every line, but I cannot claim to have written in perfect iambs throughout!)
By John Welford3 years ago in Poets
What Is A Poem?
What is a poem? May as well ask, What is a bird? If your answer is, A creature that wants to fly, you are in the right place. Some consider the purpose of poetry is merely to create of mundane thoughts something poetic, a sort of polemic or didacticism or biograph dressed up in Sunday clothes. The creation of something poetic is, rather, a consequence, not a purpose. If you wish to give a sermon or a speech, do. However eloquent, this is not quite a poem.
By C S Hughes3 years ago in Poets
A Matrix of Change
There used to be a time when there were limited ways to share a poem: type it, photocopy it, or say it aloud. Of course we know these are what's now referred to as "Dinosaur Methods". I quickly found this out when my son laughed me out of his room after I so proudly shared a Facebook post where I had photo shot a picture of my poem. It was this moment that inspired me to find 'new millennium' ways to share my work. Yes, my timeshare in my comfort zone was bound to be rented by my fearless way forward.
By Joyce Plair-Jordan3 years ago in Poets
Imagery, Lies, and a Ticket to the Circus
When I think about what makes a poem stand out, I think of fantastic imagery. Poems that employ rich descriptions and use details that allow me to fall into the poem and experience it on as many levels as possible — hearing, smelling, seeing, feeling — are poems that I tend to remember long after I first read them. The details are what re-emerge later in my mind. Carefully crafted imagery lends a particular power to a poem, helping to shape the poem’s tone and guide the reader into its unique world. Imagery sets the mood. It’s the candles and jazz of poetry writing.
By Vanessa Jimison3 years ago in Poets