Walking With Poetry

The method we use in writing poetry is personal , powerful and and often positive . Propelled by emotions and experience it is always an enigmatic explosion of what makes us tick .

Ignorance is the want of an education . Expression of the written word needs to be explored and we need skills to discover the spark within our subconsious mind .

Poetry is what gets lost in translation ~Robert Frost

Education is not the filling of a pail , but the lighting of a fire .

See your poetry - Metaphors

Words and images are metaphors with movement like living breathing water. Being in control of metaphors is like turning on a water tap . Feelings have a role to play in writing poetry .

For example "I feel so sad .

How can we describe sadness and what does sadness look like - Does sadness have a sound .

When we write about feelings and things we can't see, we want to create good pictures that people can see in their minds

Examples

"The Poet Pencil"

Once upon a time a pencil wanted to write poetry but it didn't have a point. One day a boy put it into the sharpener, and in place of a point, a river appeared.

By -Jesus Carlos Soto Morfin, Age 8

Is there really a river there ?

My pen is a spade – I dig with it – Seamus Heaney as a boy .

What does it all mean ?

Images, feeling metaphors are like living breathing water.

If you turn your water tap on flowing metaphors will pour out into poetry . Trust the poem you can see in your mind like living breathing water let it flow .

Feelings are a good device when using metaphors like anger, love, memory, silence, jealousy, wisdom, hope, loneliness .

What kind of pictures do these word portray in the mind ?".

Close your eyes and imagine how they feel .

Can you see your poetry begin to flow as you feel the emotion stir within you .

My Examples

I See Poetry

By Paul McCann

Anger is a wild wind chained to my wrist .

Love's a landslide falling over a cliff .

Silence is a closed curtain round the room .

Memories are like seeds about to bloom .

Jealousy cuts friendships just like a knife .

Wisdom are mirrors reflecting through life .

Hope is a new light where the darkness fell .

Loneliness is a cave where hermits dwell .

Nonsense poems

Nonsense poems are funny poems that tell of made-up creatures or of impossible things happening. They often use invented words.

Shape poems
A shape poem, or concrete poem, is a poem that looks like the thing that it is about. You can find other shape poems in:

· What Shape is a Poem? edited by Paul Cookson

· The Upside Down Frown edited by Andrew Fusek Peters

Rhyme
Poems rhyme when the ends of the lines sound the same. Look at a rhyming dictionary to find examples of rhyme.

Rhythm
Many things in our lives have a regular pattern, like our heartbeat, or the tick of a clock. Poets often use pattern, or rhythm, to give life to their poetry.

Riddle poems
In a riddle poem, we have to guess what the subject is from the clues in the poem. To find other riddles, look for:

· Monika Beisner's Book of Riddles

· Hey Riddle Diddle: A Book of Traditional Riddles edited by Rodney Peppe

Story poems
A narrative or story poem is a poem that tells a story. Some other narrative poems to look for are:

· 'Derek in Heaven' by Benjamin Zephaniah, in his book Funky Chickens

· 'Hot Food' by Michael Rosen in his book The Hypnotiser

'Snowball' by Shel Silverstein, in his book Falling Up

Stage a performance of the poems resulting from the activities or display them at school

Counting poems
Fruits by Valerie Bloom is a counting poem. In this kind of poem, each verse includes a different number. You might already know songs that do the same thing, like 'Ten Green Bottles'. Valerie Bloom is a poet from the Caribbean. In this poem she uses lots of words from the Caribbean.

I have written out a prescription for picking up the run down mews , so if you feel yourself in need of some inspiration maybe the following process might help .

Process Of Writing Poetry

Step 1

· Choose Theme or Topic Of Your Poem

Examples – Nature , Family and friends , Sport , People and Places

Religious , Seasonal , r.g. Winter Summer Autumn and Spring .Holidays and festivals

Step 2

· Brainstorm Your Theme or Topic

Example – Explore all aspects of the theme you have chosen for your poem and write down all your thoughts for possible inclusion in your poem .

Step 3

· Choose A Poetry Structure

Examples – Alphabet in Sequence , Acrostic , Alliteration , Cinquain , Haiku, Mirror Loop . Limerick , Fourword , Sonnet , etc.or even make up one of your own .

Step 4

· Use correct meter and look at style .

Example . Have the last word in each line of the poem rhyming with the same syllable count or break your poem up into different stanzas or verses .

Step 5

· Add Detail and description

Example - Consider rewriting and editing your poem as this will ensure a greater value to the words you are using and allow depth in your expression .

Add imagery by introducing each of your senses to the poem .

Step 6

· Try other resources

Example – Dictionary and thesaurus for spelling checks and meanings , Library books for more research on your theme . The Internet has a list of poets and their work . For instance , My site Poetry Structures

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~poems/ps/

If your writing still refuses to flow , don't give up .

What ever you do never despair .

Help is out there .

Do something about it .

Try something different , it always works .

Unlock those memories and you'll discover new pathways .

Let your poetry walk .

You'll see it can talk .

Go for it .

Until next time , write on .

By Paul McCann