Blog | jeffguess

What are the 'Essentials' of a Good Poem? - Markings 150

What are the 'Essentials' of a Good Poem? 1. Is the poem about something you actually know about (in other words a failure to write about the known usually guarantees flawed writing). 2. I recall someone responding to the question, 'What makes a good poem?' by saying 'Good poetry gives you a buzz and it's a buzz that lasts!' This simple response underscores the importance of emotion is poetry: e.g. hurt, guilt, anger, love. Make some brief comments about this on your poem. 3. What is the subject of your poem? Is it clear enough? Is more information needed? Are any lines redundant in this respect? Is there any repeat of information? 4. What is the theme of the poem or the central idea or inte

23 Writing Ideas for your Next Poem -Markings 149

23 Writing Ideas! * Imagine writing to a friend about a time you spent away from school, perhaps a holiday. What are the SIX most important things that you would tell him/her about the things you are experienced. Put these SIX things into a poem in which you expand upon each one in turn. The poem or the writing this time is not necessarily addressed to your friend but to a much wider audience. * What's going on inside your head at the moment. Write a poem about your thoughts at this precise time. * Imagine you are an alien. You have landed here to repair your spacecraft. You have never visited the earth before. Remember you are completely unfamiliar with all and everything around you. Write

How to Write a Poem by Expressing a Feeling in Colour - Markings 126

Some poets have in the past tried to express a connection between colours and the feelings we have. For example, we often hear people talk of being ‘purple with rage’ or ‘green with envy’, and these are commonplace ideas. In this poem you are asked to be more adventurous and original in connecting colours to moods and feelings. Write down the name of a colour in the middle of a sheet of paper. All round the outside of the name note down any feelings, moods or images that you associate with that colour. Now, using a very simple stanza structure, write the name of the colour at the beginning of each line and follow it with your own interpretation of that colour: Red — the shepherd’s sky stream

How to Write a Poem about Cancer - Markings 148

The seventh in a series of writing poetry as a way of healing. TOUCHING THE EXPERIENCE OF CANCER: ‘I DON’T KNOW’ Before teaching writing to children through California Poets in the Schools and to adults at the San Diego Writing Centre, Joe Milosch worked as a trail locator and heavy equipment foreman for the National Forest Service. He wrote the following poem about his wife’s cancer exactly when he was not trying to write it: Why is a scar on a man a mark of distinction, on a woman a mark of disfigurement? I don’t know. Why is it funny when a man loses his hair, and tragic when a woman loses hers? I don’t know. What will you tell her when the X rays turn the scar on her breast raw- hamburge

How to Write Poetry Using the Healing Power of Images - Markings 147

The sixth in a series of writing poetry as a way of healing. The Healing Power of Images A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. —Walt Whitman Images are drawn from sensory experience and help us to feel what the writer or speaker is communicating. Whitman is more satisfied by the morning glory because it is real and alive, it communicates something to him about reality that is particular, clear and unmistakable. Images offer us direct experience. They can show themselves to us through any of the senses. I ask people to imagine themselves standing at a busy intersection in their town or city—or to recall any other place of activity that is part of thei

How to Write Poetry as a Natural Medicine - Markings 146

The fifth in a series of writing poetry as a way of healing. Poetry as Natural Medicine Natural Medicine. Reflect on poetry as a natural medicine. What is your medicine made of? This medicine is not like a drug, intended to suppress and cover over pain or illness. It has the quality of a naturopathic or homeopathic remedy made to permeate, support and enhance the natural healing abilities of your immune system. What sort of physical, mental and spiritual attributes do your poetic medicines have? What kind of recipe might resilience, humour and calmness be found in? How do you make this potion? What would you like its effect on you to be? If you could make a natural, poetic medicine using any

How to Write a Poem Concerning Relationships - Markings 145

The fourth in a series of writing poetry as a way of healing. Poetry and Relationships Fill in the following. You may need to think about them carefully first. If I wrote and sent a poem to someone, that person or persons would be: _____________________________________________________ My favourite poem I’d give as a gift to a spouse, family member, lover or friend is: _____________________________________________________ The favourite poems or poets of my spouse, family members, lover or friend are: _____________________________________________________ If I wrote a poem to help heal a particular relationship it would be for my relationship with: ______________________________________________

How to Write Poetry using Metaphors as a way of Healing - Markings 144

The third in a series of writing poetry as a way of healing. METAPHORS: AN ALCHEMICAL BOND OF LANGUAGE Metaphor is an alchemical bond of words that unites two different things. This occurs in various ways. In some metaphor the correspondence between two things is precise and exact: I am water rushing to the well-head filling the pitcher until it spills. —Jane Kenyon My rage is a cloud of flame. —Marge Piercy In other forms of metaphor the connection is not an exact equation but something more implicit. More than either an exact equation or an implicit relationship between different things, metaphors compose entire realities. Rather than words strung together in a logical and linear way to ex

How to Write a Poem by Opening Up Access to Our Consciousness - Markings 143

The second in a series of writing poetry as a way of healing. LINE LENGTHS CRAFTING YOUR LINE TO THE TUNE OF YOUR HEALING Line lengths and layout construct the images of a poem just as atoms unite to form a stoneware mug, a pouting lover or a grizzly bear. Atoms arrange themselves to make it possible for you to drink your morning coffee, decide to stand very still or recognize one of the many faces of your lover. Lines, similarly, compose the structure, or the gestalt, of a poem. The word gestalt literally means shape, form or arrangement, structure. Line lengths and breaks create the unique shape of your poem and help determine its meaning. New experiments with poetic lines over the past on

How to Write a Poem out of 'Silence' - Markings 142

The first in a series of writing poetry as a way of healing. Heart, who will you cry out to? Giving silence words * Choose one of the following. * Spend a few minutes quietly reflecting upon it. * What are some of the thoughts, memories, ideas that you experience? * Write a poem that takes your thinking to another level or stage: as words on a page. Poetry gives you permission to feel. – James Autry Poetry came before language, for it was the poetic spirit in man that made language. – Hazrat Inayat Khan It’s better for the heart to break than not to break. - Mary Oliver If we were to examine our diseases poetically, we might find a wealth of imagery that could speak to the way we live out l

How to Write a Poem by Capturing an Image - Markings 141

Capturing Images Use one of the following physical sensations/images to serve as catalysts to awaken your imagination and to recall life experiences. If you can’t experience these things directly, imagine that you can—or find your own. See what arises! Write everything you can about the connections sparked by one of these images and sensations. * walking barefoot on a hot city sidewalk * listening to the wail of sirens and rush of vehicles * standing naked under a waterfall * tasting snowflakes for the first time * holding someone in your arms * smelling and tasting food from a different country * petting your cat or dog * hearing thund

How to Write a 'Diamond' Poem - Markings 140

©Jeff Guess 2019 ******************************************************************************************************************* Writing Poetry A Creative Writing Course in 8 Units. Please consider my ‘Writing Poetry’ course. Eight units that cover every aspect of writing poetry with an anthology of exemplars and examples. In addition, a whole host of writing activities and assignments. It is a stimulating and absorbing course and will takes you from the basics to proficiency. Suitable for senior school students, adults and undergraduates. A modest fee applies. For further information, please visit www.jeffpoet@gmail.com

How to Write a Poem by Conducting a 'Poetry Race' - Markings 139

How to Write a Poem from a Picture or a Photograph - Markings 138

How to Write a 'Noun' Poem - Markings 137

How to Write a Poem from a 'Grab Bag' of Ideas - Markings 136

How to Write 'Your Name' or an Acrostic Poem - Markings 135

How to Write Concrete or 'Cartoon' Poetry - Markings 134

How to Write a Poem from a Game of 'Gossip' - Markings 133

How to Write a Poem Using Poetry Starters - Markings 132

Poetry Starters either as a title, first line or idea I had not thought that death . . . Gradually, from a behind a curtain of dream . . . Under the grey fog of a winter dawn . . . From the gum trees, loved-crazed cicadas . . . Otherwise we might have had a season . . . All day our little street has lain . . . The convict arrow of gull’s feet . . . He knew the boat, knew it better than he did himself . . . She did not keep our time, and as the empty hour reached its sum . . . The road through the noon-time forest began . . . High and lifted up . . . Baked black and thin . . . Beyond her best and wildest fantasies . . . Remaking the darkness . . . This long train reinvents . . . Emergency sir