eremedies

You're a Poet and Don't Know It!

POETE, EL POETA, DICHTER, IL POETA. In any language, poetry can be beautiful. Of course, there are those for whom flowery language blooms not only in every phrase, but in every movement, every look, every thought. The rest of us are not usually so inclined, but we can all make an attempt at writing our thoughts in a way that will touch someone.

* Read and read and read some more. You'll get great ideas and images from the poetry you read. If Burns said "My luv's like a red, red rose," you can think, "My joy is like the blue, blue sky." Poets use similes (phrase with "like," as in love is like a rose) and metaphors (phrases without "like," as in my hope is a butterfly), and these add powerful images to what they say.

* Write what you think. As you learn the words of the poets, you can write your own, as well. Write words as they come to mind, but split them the way they should be naturally. So a sentence like "My heart bleeds with love for you" can be written just that way, or:

My heart
bleeds
with love for you

Or it can be written:

My heart bleeds
With love for you

What you feel, works.

* Learn some rules. It's good to know the basics, which are that poems usually have meter (the rhythm of each line) and often some sort of rhyming scheme. In popular ballads (which is what most songs are these days), every other line rhymes. In some poems, the first and fourth line rhyme and the middle two rhyme with each other. Experiment with different types of schemes, or make up your own!

* Don't be bound by the rules. The only standing rule of poetry is that you write what comes from your heart. Write what you feel, split the way you feel it, and don't hold back. Your geniune feelings will sincerely touch those who know you.