A Poetry Workshop for You

You can write a poem.

Equinox has come and gone, but happy equinox nevertheless. Although I will not present an online poetry workshop this fall, I am pleased to present an exercise I use in my generative poetry workshops. The focus is on the sonic qualities of the words, and I assure you that even if you have never poemed before, you CAN write a poem.

Poetry is not a gift, it is a learned skill. The more you write, the better your poems will be, especially if you look at each poem to see why it works well or does not. The text in this edition comes from the handout I use in the workshop and they also appear in my upcoming book, It’s Just a Phase.

From Free Verse to Internal Rhyme Scheme

The following two poems appeared in the 2023 edition of the Mildred Haun Review.  Both are free verse poems written in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  You can use the prompts at the end to write a new poem.  

Advice in Time of Plague 

Do not Abandon all hope ye who enter here
nor let the weight of current events crush your soul.
Mourn what is lost, but not too long. 
Crush the hurdle of despair and 
the dark thoughts lurking there.
Pitch a tent near cool mountain streams.
Lay spoil to grim demeanor and resurrect hope. 
Revel in the comedy of a fence lizard's display.
Delight in wild violets and trout lilies.
Never forget you are called to live. 

Mike

With an internal rhyme scheme, he told of a dream 
of California haze and his surfer days 
perhaps spent in a daze after Vietnam.

I wondered about that shark tattoo outlined in blue.
Through the water, it flew as it sat on his arm 
to protect him from harm. It failed in the end. 

When Covid struck, he was out of luck, 
no one passed the buck. The doctors tried, 
but on a ventilator, he died in a hospital room. 

They folded the flag and gave a salute with 
twenty-one guns and a bugle to boot. 
On Federal land, he made his last stand. 

With hope, I say, “We’ll meet again someday
in a land far away.”  We may toast him with cheer 
if heaven allows beer and hear a few poems. 

The first poem is general and the second is specific. The first poem could not stand alone if it were not part of the sequence. It is difficult, if not impossible, to write a general poem about sickness, death, love, greed, ambition, or any other human experience. So I have been told, but I still attempt such poems. 

The second poem is about the loss of a friend and brings the horrors of COVID-19 home as an inescapable reality. Mike is a real person, with a serious and comical history. He is gone forever, and those two factors give the second poem its power.  

There is another difference though. The second poem has strong sonic properties. When I read it aloud, I emphasize the following words: 
scheme, dream
days, haze, daze
tattoo, blue, flew
arm, harm
salute, boot
land, stand 
say, someday, away
cheer, beer, hear

Before we get to the prompt, please read the following poem and look for an internal rhyme scheme. 

Naked Trees
Published in The Avocet

The naked trees have no shame.
Without blame, they shed their leaves.
As nature weaves a cloak of color.

Leaves depart to cover the ground.
They are found on the forest floor. 
What is more, they shelter wildflowers.

Safe and warm in leafy blankets
they snuggle in winter form.
Until reborn to dance in the golden sun. 

My prompts are, of course, optional. \Try writing a poem about friendship, love, loss, war, or another human experience. Then try a specific poem about how these affected you or someone close to you.

Alternative prompt: Try writing a poem with an internal rhyme scheme.

Forthcoming Book and Public Appearances

I am polishing a few booklets, you may call them zines, for publication after my book is released in November.

Please see this link for information on my forthcoming book and public appearances: https://substack.com/@znaturalist/p-149006917.