Poetry Practicum

By Alison Moore Smith

Try an exercise in creativity today! Any child or adult who can write can join in the fun and make poetry personal! And you can easily outdo my lame efforts.

Name That Poem

Write your name in a column, with one letter per line. Then write a poem using words that start with those letters. Try to make every word in each line start with the same letter.

Example:

Arresting art always
Looks less lovely
In irritatingly
Sentimental situations
Or overlooking odious
Nincompoops.

Acrostic Poem

Write a four letter word in a column, with one letter per line. Then write a line of poetry for each of the four letters in the word. The first letter in each line should begin with the letter you have written. The poem should be about the topic suggested by the word you have chosen. Try to rhyme the second and last lines.

Example:

My father, the professor, has
Always known
That numbers
Have magic all their own.

Haiku

A haiku is a poem with only three lines. The words on the first line should add up to 5 syllables, the second line to 7, and the third line to 5.

Example:

The most delicious
Thing on earth certainly must
Be an artichoke.

Cinquain

The first line of a cinquain poem should have 2 syllables, the second line 4, the third line 6, the fourth line 8, and the fifth line 2 again. The shape of this poem is important.

Example:

Samson,
My darling son.
Four sisters adore you.
I never dreamed I'd have a boy.
What joy!