STRUCTURE OF A POEM.  Write in a sequence – beginning, middle, end.

         Lead

  Build-up

Ending

Kicker - dramatic ending

Soft Shoe-tap - quiet, reflective ending                         

BE FREE TO WRITE ANYTHING!  Pick a subject, perhaps you want to write about a bird - the American Robin.  Research the subject.  Collect facts in your head.  What facts?  Plumage: gray-brown back with darker head, breast and part of belly brick red, rest of belly white, throat white with dark vertical stripes, yellow bill.  Song sounds like cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio.  Nests in bushes and forks of trees.  Eats insects and berries.  Often seen on lawns, head cocked as it searches for earthworms.

GIVE YOURSELF A LEAD LINE: “I am standing under a maple tree listening to the robin sing in a ...”   Do not worry about how to end the line.  Just write.  Use the facts you’ve collected.  You will find that you are finishing the lead sentence.  Keep yourself going writing anything that comes into your head.  If your mind strays, keep writing about whatever comes to you.  The idea is to write.  Get it down on paper.  There is time for editing and revising later.  First you must write.

INCLUDE DETAILS.  Where is the bird, what is the background, the landscape, the weather, what time of day?  Feel free to include the senses: see, hear, smell, taste, touch to bring the reader into the poem.  Use vocabulary that is meaningful to the subject.

FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE EMOTION.  Are you observing the bird?  How do you feel about the bird and what the bird is doing?  Perhaps you are the bird.  Try to connect to the reader with emotion.

BE CONCISE.  Keep to as few words as necessary to convey the focus of the poem.  Use words or phrases that add energy to your poem.

READ YOUR POEM ALOUD.  Listen to the sound of the words as they flow.  Be aware of awkward sound combinations. 

EDIT.  Eliminate any unnecessary words such as “the” “that” “then” “and” “also.”  Look at your sequencing.  Perhaps your middle lines need to be moved around; perhaps your first line should be your last line.

GOOD WRITING!                          CLICK HERE FOR SELF GUIDING POETRY LESSON                 

Nassau County Poet Laureate Committee

Paula Camacho, Coordinator  *  Beverly Kotch, Outreach Chairperson  *

Maria Manobianco, Public Relations  *  Ursula Nouza, Outreach  *

Judy Turek, School Project Chairperson  *

Consultants:  Susan Astor, Sue Korman, Patti Tana