Poetry Now!

Every once in a while, I come across a poem that I want to share. Read this one and see if you like it, too. Then, for a writing challenge, look at the "Poetry Idea." I'll change this poem every few months. If you want more writing challenges, go to the Poem Starters page.

Poetry Now! Archives

Joyce Sidman

from The World According to Dog, c. 2003 Doug Mindell

I Got Carried Away

(to Kyle)

Kyle, I’m sorry

for hitting you so hard in Dodge Ball.

I just really get carried away

in situations like that.

Kids screaming and ducking,

Coach bellowing,

all those red rubber balls

thumping like heartbeats

against the walls and ceiling,

blinking back and forth

like stop lights

(that really mean

go,

Go,

GO!)

See,

I even got

carried away

in this poem.

--from Reuben

This is a “sorry” poem from my latest book This Is Just To Say: Poems Of Apology And Forgiveness. The point of this poem is, of course, to apologize, but also to explain as convincingly as possibly WHY you did what you did—so that you will be forgiven.

1. Look back into your sordid past. What do you feel bad about? What do you feel, gleefully, that you got away with? What do you do that really irritates people? Choose one of these events—it can be from yesterday or when you were three years old. (You can also write from someone else’s point of view—your dog’s, or your screaming baby brother’s. There’s a poem in my book from a hamster’s point of view, apologizing for biting someone.)

2. Begin with a simple apology: “I am so sorry, Sis, / for stealing your Halloween candy.”

3. Now you’ve got to make your reader understand the temptation involved—and the key to this is sensory detail. What were you seeing, smelling, feeling? “My candy was long gone. / Yours was lying hidden in your closet, / like a treasure chest waiting to be plundered. / I could taste the smooth chocolate / melting in my mouth.”

4. Explain exactly what happened, and how you felt afterwards. “I crept toward your room, my heart pounding . . ./ and there it was, behind your socks! / Crinkling yellow, red, and blue wrappers! / I gorged, and then stopped, appalled / at what I had done.”

5. End with a plea for forgiveness. “Please forgive me for being your piggy big sister.” And if you’re really brave, give it to the person you wronged. Maybe she’ll write back!