Clover hearted

Poems about poetry

A collection about the writing process, this chapter is written as advice for people looking to write poetry.

Always better written

I have never met a poem I wished hadn't been written.

Every story is worth telling, every metaphor and rhyme worth using.

Write using poor grammar. Write using metaphors everyone has heard.

Write about cliches. Write melodramatically. Write about topics that mean nothing.

Write about the same topic one hundred different times. Write in a way that is senseless.

Write rambles that cannot be understood. Write terrible poems using ugly metaphors.

Write a poem that is thousands of words. Write a poem using seven.

I read poems I don't understand, I read poems I find thoughtless, I read poems living in narratives I don't agree with, despite any thoughts I may have they are always better off having been written.

When I review old writings, dramatic, lacking punctuation, rehashing the same narrative in the same way, and it all has a place in my heart, I felt the need to write the poem so it is better off having been written.

Any means

Read lengthy poems from the sixteenth century that you do not understand, read poems that have one hundred forty characters.

Read poems that feel like being bruised, read poems that feel like the sun shining on your skin, read poems that lead to unknown sensations.

Listen to poetry podcasts at your minimum wage job. Read poems written in notes apps. Listen to poems you adore, listen to poems you cannot comprehend.

Watch videos reviewing books you've never read. Watch videos of first time poets.

Write about monumental moments, write about minuscule moments in history. Write about things that changed your life, write about a Monday morning. Write about anything at all.

Talk about poetry. Talk about poetry with people who would never willingly read it. Talk about poetry with people who have printed books. Talk about poetry with strangers.

Think about things you've written, review and summarize projects in your mind. Ask yourself what you will write next. Write poems in your head when you don't have any pens.

Share your poems with strangers. Show your mother your poems. Show your friends your writing. Tell someone this reminds you of a poem you wrote or read. Let it become a part of you.

Questions

What metaphor holds these moments within it?

What metaphor takes this moment in history and captures it in its most vivid nature?

What does this tie into? What is this separate from?

How can I reflect on my heart today?

How is this different than it was before?

What am I hoping for? What am I fearful of?

How intentional does this poem need to be?

What do I want the reader to see in their mind when they review my poem?

What color is it? What movie plays in my mind? Who do I see?

What am I telling the reader?
Is this something profound? Is this a small but beautiful story?

Am I capturing pain? Am I capturing happiness?

What piece of myself can I add to this?
How does my life contain the metaphor I need for this writing?

What is it intertwined with?

How does it relate to stories I have written before? How is it different?

What words capture this story I am trying to tell?

Poetic style

Is your story best told using lengthy rambles, messy metaphors, and excessive wordiness?

Should you tell your story using precise, detailed, and vivid language, each word carefully and articulately chosen?

Do you prefer to structure with a destined number of beats per stanza? An A/B rhyme scene, a thoughtful sonnet?

Would you rather leave rhyming behind, does free verse speak more to your heart? Is your story best told without following a preconceived idea?

Do you like to write about the melancholy, the heartbreaking and sorrowful? Would you like to tell the stories of your worst moments, the moments that redefine a person in a way that aches?

Does your heart tell stories of Sunday afternoons and coffee shops? Are you of the belief that poetry is best written in a happy, lighthearted fashion? In your mind are the best stories simple?

What metaphors do you find most profound? Metaphors of the body or color? Ugly words used to tell complex stories? Things that are fantastical? Things that are simple and easy to grasp?