LIBRARY BLOG

The Poetry Nook
Celebrating National Poetry Month

April is one of my favorite months of the year because we get to spend the month celebrating all things poetry. From the poets, to the different poetic forms, to the stories behind the art, I love it all. This month, at The Poetry Nook, we are going to herald in the month by creating some poetry of our own. Below, I’ve created three different writing prompts to get you started. If you want to explore beyond these prompts, I’ve also included some of my favorite books on poetry writing.

Be sure to check out Lillian’s great blog post on poetic forms for even more ways to stretch yourself as a writer.

We’d love to share your writing with the world. Send your poems to nmagola@mytpl.org and we will share them on the library’s Facebook page.

Now let’s get to creating!

Shakespeareian Sonnets with a Twist

Many of us have been familiarized with sonnets through the works of William Shakespeare. This classic style consists of a fourteen line poem written in iambic pentameter (ten syllable lines of unstressed syllables followed by stressed ones. Think ba DUM ba DUM ba DUM ba DUM ba DUM). Most often, the poem is split into three stanzas, the first two being four lines long and the last being six. And, there will be a rhyme scheme of some sort.

To turn our sonnets on their heads, rather than writing about handsome men and beautiful women, romance, and adventure, we are going to write about our favorite foods. Yes, this love poem will be about your most beloved delicacy. Bon appétit!

Getting Heavy with Concrete Poems

For many of us, our first experience writing concrete poems was in grade school. This style of poetry was a great way to get even the most reluctant poet writing. With concrete poems, your words will take on the shape of its subject, blending the written word with visual arts. When we were small, we would often times write our poems about the family cat, butterflies in spring, or our favorite trucks.

Now that we are all grown up, we are going to dig a little deeper with this exercise. For this prompt, I would like for you to write a concrete poem about a loss. Whether it is a person, a pet, or your purse, bring this loss to life with the illustrative power of a concrete poem.

Roasting with Clerihew

Although this poetic form has been around for over a hundred years, not many folks know about it. This short and sweet poem is all about throwing shade a celebrities and popular figures. It is only four lines long and follows an AABB rhyme scheme. So, these won’t take long to crank out at all.

Rather than taking on the famous, let’s instead turn our attention on our tormentors. Write this one for the bullies from grade school. The kids who slapped “Kick Me” signs on your back and stole your lunch money. It is time for their comeupance. Give it to them.