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POEM STARTERS for Beginners

A Simple Metaphor

(look at Valerie Worth's poems for examples):

1. Choose an object (shell, flower, pinecone, snow).

2. Brainstorm metaphors: what does it look like? Feel like? Smell like? What could it be used for?

3. Write a poem celebrating this object, using metaphor. Be playful & imaginative. "My shell looks like a castle in an undersea kingdom, with a spotted spiral staircase. It feels smooth, like the slide on the playground."

Letter Poem

(look at the book Dear World by Takayo Noda)

1. Choose some part of nature (wind, sun, lake, tree).

2. Think: Why is it important? How is it beautiful? What have you always wanted to know about it?

3. Write a poem addressed to it, with a compliment, a description, a question, a wish. "Dear leaf: your bumpy veins look just like a tiny tree. How does it feel to fly on the wind?"

Animal Me

(look at I'm as Quick as a Cricket by Don & Audrey Wood)

1. What do you feel like when you're happy, sad, embarrassed? Choose an emotion to write about, and use an animal metaphor to describe yourself: "When I am happy, I'm a horse, kicking its heels."

2. Or, describe everyone in your family in terms of an animal: "Dad is like a bear, with big warm hugs."

I Like

(look at David McCord's poem "Crows"):

1. Choose something you like (rabbits, pizza, running down a hill)

2. Think of everything you like about it, using as much detail as possible.

3. Write an "I like" poem, listing all those things: "Rabbits: I like their long fuzzy ears. I like the way they freeze when they're scared. I like the quick munching of their little jaws."

I Used to/ But now . . .

(from Kenneth Koch's book, Rose Where Did You Get that Red?)

1. Write a growing up poem, about how you've changed since you were younger.

2. Start each sentence with the phrase "I used to . . ." and end it with, "but now . . ." "I used to be afraid of fire engines. Now I love the color red!"

Quiet/Noisy Poems

(look at Susan Marie Swanson's "Breathing", from Getting Used to the Dark)

1. Think of lots of quiet (or noisy) things--weather, food, animals, etc:

2. Write a quiet (noisy) poem, taking three of these things and writing a whole phrase about them: "A cloud drifting across the sky. A cow, sleeping on its feet. Three green apples on a tree, waiting to be eaten."

3. Then add yourself in, describing what you do when you're quiet. "And me, curled up reading a book."

POEM STARTERS for Intermediates

Pictures

(look at the book Heart to Heart, ed. by Jan Greenberg, for poetry based on art)

1. Collect some unusual photographs or copies of interesting artwork.

2. Choose one piece and think about it: what is the mood? Movement? Color? Meaning?

3. Try writing a "diamante" summing up your interpretation of the picture.

Diamante Format: Start and end with a noun. Line format: 1 word, 2 words, 3, 5, 3, 2, 1:

Merlin:

gentle wags,

soft liquid eyes.

His touch is always warm.

Do dogs smile?

Merlin does.

Happiness!

Voice of Another

(look at Joyce Sidman's "Walt Tells it Like it Is" from Eureka!)

1. Choose a figure in history or literature that you've studied.

2. Pretend you are that figure, telling the world who you are and how you came to do what you did.

3. Concentrate on Voice: a society debutante would sound different than Abe Lincoln.

Place of Refuge

(look at William Butler Yeats' "Lake Isle of Innisfree")

1. Think of a place you feel safe; you feel most like YOU.

2. Who is there? What does it look like, smell like, sound like? Are there tastes associated with this place? certain activities?

3. Write a poem to put the reader in your special place, using sensory details.

Emotions

(look at Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the thing with feathers")

1. Brainstorm different emotions and choose one

2. Imagine it as a physical thing/person: what does it look like, act like, sound like?

3. Write a poem making the abstract concrete. "Embarrassment flutters about like a lady with too many shawls."

Memory

(look at Theodore Roethke's "Child on Top of a Greenhouse")

1. Think back over your life: which memories come to mind? Joyful, sad, embarrassing, exciting times; first time you did something, loss of a loved one, etc.

2. Choose one and try to capture that moment: use all five senses to tell us: Who was there? What were you feeling? What sights? Noises? Smells? Why was this moment important (show, not tell)? Remember, you are not telling a story--you are capturing a moment within the story.

Need a kick-start for writing poetry? Try these poetry ideas.

For more ideas, go to: Poetry Now!