Writing My Own Poetry

Hi! It’s Cindy again, and I’m celebrating our week of poetry with a few poems I have written for my One Little Word projects. I was very excited about the prospect of writing poetry for my OLW because I am a writer at heart. I’m sure that desire must have been put in my head by The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer,” and I remember writing poetry and short stories for fun as early as the fifth grade. There was a time when I seriously wanted to be a novelist. The love of creative writing has stayed with me my entire life, and I happily journal long stories in my scrapbooks and other projects.

The first two poems I’m sharing today are from last fall when my word was “Explore.” I was so excited to write poetry, I actually went off prompt to create one on my own just to test out my prowess. The second poem uses the “Mad-Lib”-style fill-in-the-blank format suggested by Liz, the instructor for that month. I will say that the first was much easier to write than the second, because I started with no specific format or intentions, but simply let my mind go where it must. The fill-in-the-blank format was much more challenging, because the questions and blanks didn’t really seem to go with my word, so it wasn’t until I deconstructed the worksheet and reassembled the lines in a different order that I was able to make the poem make sense. Overall, I’m quite delighted by the results, and it was a fun challenge, so I thought I’d share both poems with you, as well as a similar worksheet so you can make your own poem like this.

The Girl

She’s still there, the young girl,

Traumatized by poverty…abuse…neglect.

Longing for love, looking for acceptance.

Desperate…anxious…alone.

Always trying to be seen,

To be heard…to be valued.

Never knowing who to trust. Is it real?

Afraid, afraid, afraid

Of being let down…disappointed…

Abandoned yet again.

So many mistakes.

Unwilling to change it

For fear of losing the good.

Forgiving, but wary.

Tired, but energized.

Going, going, going

Moving…searching…exploring.

Damaged and yet so resilient,

So optimistic…so hopeful.

Working…waiting,

And trying, trying, trying

To build the life

She thinks she deserves.

I AM

I am a map unfurled,

Open, inviting, and calling

To the adventurer in my soul.

I hold the weight of the world

And the hope

For a better tomorrow.

I am crafting beautiful moments,

Laughing with my family

Until my sides hurt,

And planning more joy

In our everyday lives.

I reach toward the sunlight

Glinting through the trees,

The carefree splashing of the river

As it wanders through the canyon,

And the peaceful solitude

Of being here…now.

I am hopeful and afraid.

I hold cherished memories

Of friends and family,

Realizing that now

Is all that truly exists

And that the purpose

I am searching for

Is already in me.

And I am learning

How to understand myself.

This year, we once again have a poetry prompt, but for this one, we are being called to hold a conversation with our word and then use a worksheet questionnaire to grow the “bones” of our poem. I really enjoyed this process because it pushes me into a different way of looking at my word and a different approach to the poem I wrote.  Here is the one I wrote this year:

Reach

 

In the pitch-black dark of my soul,

I sit…

Alone with my thoughts,

Crowded

By all the tasks I cannot finish,

All the things I cannot do.

Haunted by the spectres of my past,

The ghosts that have kept me silent,

Boxed in,

Oppressed,

Controlled.

Dampening my light

And keeping me frozen

In this safe place.

Unmoving.

Somewhere out of reach

In the dark

Are all the things I want.

I try to reach for them,

But the way is treacherous.

“Look for the joy,”

A voice whispers beside me.

“There is joy in everything,

Even in this dark.

Embrace this moment,

Feel the life that is here

All around you.

Trust that you are 

Exactly where

You are supposed to be,

And that whatever happens

Is supposed to happen.

Be here – now.

Because now is all there is.

There is only now.

Relax and let your light shine.

Let it light up

Everything around you.

No one has the power to control you.

No one can silence your cry.

Everything you need to heal

Is already inside you.

And everything you desire

Is within your reach.

Reach.”

I encourage you to give this style of poetry writing a try. It’s much easier than you think and I know you’ll be surprised at the outcome. To get you started, I have created a fill-in-the-blank worksheet similar to the one I used to write last year’s “I Am” poem. Give it a try and share your results on our MMC Chat group. I’d love to see what you wrote!