This worksheet might help you organize your ideas for a poem.
1. List several universal concepts (birth, relationships, love, hate
death, et cetera) that interest you.
2. Generally describe your thoughts and feelings on one of those
concepts.
3. Specifically describe that concept, using only objective details
(size, shape and color) and sensory details (sight, sound, smell,
taste and touch).
4. Compare the concept to something concrete (a specific thing
perceptible by the senses). You may want to compare the
concept to several tangible things.
5. What sounds (soft and/or harsh) do you associate with the
concept? List some of the letters of the alphabet that correlate
to the concept.
6. Create two sets of associative words that rhyme. An example
follows. My roommate perpetuates a state of hate.
7. To which senses do you want to appeal? Create images that
correlate to those senses. An example follows. There were
shards of green glass like grass at the base of the oak.
8. What rhythm (slow or fast) do you associate with the concept?
9. Do short lines or long lines best express the concept?
10. Determine a form that coincides with the emotion(s) you are
attempting to relate to and to evoke from your audience.
11. Create a title that reveals the essence of your poem.
