Poetry
When I say “poetry”, what sort of reaction takes place in your body? Is it a reluctant groan, a slinking together like a slug? Or maybe something sits a little straighter in your spine as your eyesight sharpens with excitement. Poetry, especially freestyle poetry, is one of the easiest ways for you to begin observing the normal world around you and writing it down in a way that is honest and true to you. As a teengager, and even occasionally still today as an adult, I’ll find that the only way for me to fully process something is to write a poem about it. Some things are too big, too complicated, too beautiful, or too painful to try to use normal language structure for.
In “Writing Down the Bones”, Natalie Goldberg encourages her writing students (and you and me) by saying, “Writing practice embraces your whole life and doesn’t demand any logical form. It’s a place that you can come to wild and unbridled, mixing the dream of your grandmother’s soup with the astounding clouds outside your window.”
If you haven’t before, try finding a few books of poetry from your school or public library. Pick a couple different ones because the truth is that there is a huge range of style and voice when it comes to poems. It might take a few tries before you find a poet you resonate with. I’ve certainly read a poem or two and put books right back on the shelf before! Indiana author Helen Frost has written several young adult novels with the entire story broken into poems instead of chapters. “Salt” and “Crossing Stones” are two of my favorites of hers.
If you want to give writing poems a try, carry a mini notebook with you at all times or type them up in your phone if you have an app that can save notes. The haiku is a perfect, short form of poetry that you can jump into right away. All you have to do is arrange your words in three separate lines with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the final line. No rhyming even necessary! Here’s a fun example of a haiku:
I love my pillow.
My alarm clock is beeping.
No, no, no, no, no.
Or, if you want to go a more serious route with it (and even break the 5/7/5 rule):
love between us is
speech and breath. loving you is
a long river running.
Whether you want to try reading poems, writing it, or both, poetry is a way to begin to look at the world with fresh eyes. You never know what might inspire your next poem. The fogged up windows on your bus ride? The feelings you have about the new student in your class? Your dog’s penchant for chewing up stuffed animals? Poems are everywhere… if we only look long enough to catch them!
Challenges/Points:
Poetry is a rewarding, fun art form that uses the written word to paint pictures in our minds. There are all kinds of poetry from long, serious epics to short and funny haikus.
Check out a few books of poetry from the library and see which type you gravitate toward. Don’t give up if you don’t like the first book you try.
If you want to start writing poems, carry a small notebook with you everywhere or type them up in a note on your phone. Writing poems teaches us to look at the world creatively and see things with fresh eyes.
Questions:
Have you read or written poetry before?
How do you feel after reading a poem that you really like?
Do you agree with the statement that anyone can write poetry? Why or why not?
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