Compilation

Today is a day to just write about anything you want using any form of poetry that suits you. A good idea would be to go to a place that inspires you, preferably some place quiet, and just write about everything you see and feel. Remember not to overthink anything and don't worry about how it will turn out. Write what you feel as it happens. Line by line. This is the perfect time to write about anything you have bottled up, those feelings are the best for writing poems.

Be sure to remember my definition of poetry: a short way to describe one's feelings about a particular topic often using rhymes. It uses all sorts of figurative language. Such as idioms, similes, metaphors, alliteration, etc.

Here are more of my poems. Read them for inspiration and see if you can tell which type of poetry I used for each one.


The obsessed janitor on Dreary Lane
Always has a shovel and a cane.
He comes out at night
Burying objects with his might.
Although that is extremely lame.

"Spring Time's Here"

The sound of spring is finally here,

Each day its drawn near and near.

Birds chirp and the wind blows

I hope it never ever snows.

It's so beautiful and bright,

Not even the biggest bug gives me a fright.

Thank God the beauties of spring are finally here.

 

"I Write because..."

I write because it cleanses my soul

I tell about things you may not know.

Things that are deep,

Things that make you weep.

When you read them you'll know more than before.

I write because it cleanses my soul.

 

"Spring Noise"

I hear birds and bugs and wind and leaves.

All the plants make noise with ease.

They sing songs of joy and warmth,

I wish I knew the lyrics to their verse.

 

School is over,

Let us sleep the day away.

We can finish it later.

 

 

Tips on a whim

As we get more into the mechanics of writing poems here are some things we should always keep in mind:
Sometimes the mechanics of writing get in the way of creativity. It helps to put the following "rules" on the board:

1. Don't plan in advance how the poem will end. This could potentially mess up the path your poem is meant to take. Just like life, poems need to be written as it goes.
 

2. Write quickly—don't censor—include everything! By overthinking things we can leave out our real emotion in the poem.
 

3. Don't rhyme, unless it's accidental. People have this stereotype that all poems rhyme when in reality they don't have to. Sometimes it just happens but don't waste your time being stuck on a stanza because you don't know what to rhyme it with. Just write and don't overthink your rhyme schemes.

Now lets try a writing exercise. Write down the first three subjects that come to your mind. These could be things like a relationship that went bad or good, your best friend, what you fear the most, the person who means the most to you, or just simply the lunch you ate today.

Now try to find a way they all connect together and just write about it. Don't worry about rhyming or the mechanics. Just write about 15 to 20 sentences describing your subjects as one entity. This will help joggle your thought process allowing you to not worry about how to write it but simply just doing it. When you're finished you should have a really interesting free style poem.  

 

Acrostic Poems

So now that we've done a few serious poems lets do a fun one. Acrostic poems are probably one of the easiest poems to write. All you have to do is form a story by using the first letter of the subject. Sounds a little confusing, I know, but once you understand the concept you'll be whipping out acrostic poems like nobody's business.

We'll start with one using your own name. Here is mine:

Fun
Always
Ticks
Imagination
Making
Amazement

See? It's not as hard as you think. There are many different kinds of acrostic poems but we'll just start as easy as possible. The cool thing about acrostic poems is that can be used as a mnemonic device to help memorize things. Now you try making your own.

Here are even more examples of my acrostic poems:

Someone who
Insists on being
Sympathetic when you need it and gives
Time for healing through
Every heartbreak you
Receive.

Some place I often
Call
Hell every
Other bad week. But I
Often find myself
Loving it.

Cinquain

Okay now back to structured poems. Another short and quick poem you can create is a cinquain. 

This is a short five stance poem. It consists of one word in the first line and then 2, 3,4 and for the last line only one word. Sometimes it makes more sense to just read an example than to understand it. 

My example:

Children

Messy, tricksters

Playing, loving, sleeping

Learning as they grow.

Adults. 

Freestyle Time

Now that you've had some practice with rhyming and thinking about words lets do some free style poetry. These are probably the easiest poems to write because you don't have to think a particular way. You can just write and let your words flow in whatever direction they want to go. And now that you've warmed up your brain it will be especially easy. Just write whatever you feel and the rest will come naturally. 

My freestyle poem of the day: 

A Bench 

The bench is my outside friend.

It lets me rest upon it, 

All day it sits there waiting, watching, observing me as I play out in my yard.

Sometimes I wonder just where I'd be 

If the bench could no longer hold me.

By: Fatima Oubaid

See little effort but such a deep metaphor. That's really what poetry is about. 

Diamente

Okay so this type of poem is more of a stylistic form of poetry. I enjoy diamantes because I'm just amazed at the thought of them. Basically it is a seven line poem that ends up forming the shape of a diamond, hence the name diamante. 

This type of poem can be used two different ways. You can either use it to compare two subjects or use it to name synonyms and antonyms for another subject. 

The first line only consists of one word which is the subject of the poem. The second is two adjectives describing the subject. The third line is three verbs ending in -ing. The fourth line is where you start to change things up. In this line you put four nouns, the first two relate to the original subject and the second two relate to another subject. The fifth line you put three verbs ending in -ing like earlier but now relate them to the new subject. Then two adjectives that relate to the new subject and finally the seventh line will be the one word new subject. 

It sounds confusing but it's actually pretty easy once you get going. The coolest part is that you can read them backward and they still make sense, if you write it correctly that is. 

Here is the best one I've written so far: 

Friends.

Compassionate, funny.

Caring, loving, understanding 

Always there when needed

Changing, deceiving, hurting

Rude, unjust 

Enemy. 

Haiku Time

Another simple type of poem to create is a Haiku. It's a simple three stanza poem. 

The first stanza has five syllables. The second has seven. And the third has five again. It's real simple and amusing what people can come up with. 

Here are some of mine:

Balloons fly high up,

They fly to the unknown skies.

Pop, they fall back down.

Looking at my life.

Closer and closer I see,

Lies all around me.