Five Fun Kinds of Poems to Write

Writing a poem is one of the challenges of our Stone Library Poetry Party this month!  You may have heard of traditional and popular poetic forms like haiku, diamante, acrostic and concrete poems.  But have you tried these?

1. A How-to Poem!

Can you write a poem that gives directions?  How to meet an animal?  How to cook something delicious?  How to fight a monster?  How to make a friend?  How to travel somewhere?  How to play a sport?  What do you know how to do, and what words can you use to show someone else how to do it?

2. A Reverso Poem!

A reverso poem is a poem that can be read from the last line down or the last line up!  The direction it is read changes the poem's meaning or point of view.  Poet Marilyn Singer introduced this technique and it is very challenging...but very exciting when it works! 

3. A List Poem!  

List poems are some of the oldest kinds of poems out there...they have been around for thousands of years!  Can you make a poem about things your pet requires?  A shopping list?  Things in spring?  Things in a drawer? Things that make you scared, or happy?  Things you see from your window? Things you look forward to doing?  

4. A False Apology Poem!

There is a very famous poem called "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams:

He doesn't sound very sorry, does he?  A false apology poem is a poem that says "sorry" for something the poet is secretly not very sorry about.  

It's a snarky, ironic form of poetry.

You can also write a real apology poem.  It's always good to practice saying "sorry," everyone has to do it sometimes.  What better way than in a poem?  

5. A Book Spine Poem!

Paul Sawyier Public Library

BookBub.com

Candlewick Press

This kind of poem is less about writing and more about noticing and arranging.  Pile the spines of your books so that the titles, when read from top to bottom, create a poem.  Examples are above and more if you search google images for book spine poetry!  If you are lucky enough to have books at home, can you arrange them to create a book spine photo?  Snap a picture and send it to me!

Whatever you try, would you please share with me in an e-mail or through the library's Google Classroom? I look forward to sharing the fruits of your labor in the coming week!  

Happy Poetry Month, wonderful children!