April is National Poetry Month and to celebrate I am going to share some of my favorite ways to engage with poetry. If you aren’t used to reading poetry it can be kind of intimidating to pick up a poetry book let alone write a poem yourself! So to help you get your feet wet here are some easy ways to get started.
First, use music! While you may not be able to name a poet off the top of your head, I am sure you can name at least one singer, songwriter, or band. Music is a nice gateway to learning and practicing the mechanics of poetry. You could start by reading the lyrics to a favorite song and noticing why it is you like it. Maybe you enjoy the descriptive language, the metaphors, or the alliterations they used. Then if you want to try writing a poem yourself, take a song you know really well – this could be anything, even Twinkle Twinkle Little Star if you can’t think of anything else. Then try replacing the words in the song. This forces you to pay attention to the structure, the syllables, and the sound of what you are writing. For example, “twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are” could become “dribble, dribble, puppy boy, drink your water chew your toy”.
Next, play with idioms and other common phrases. Write out a few common sayings such as “the grass is always greener on the other side” or “good things come to those who wait” and see if you can change one word to give it a new meaning. Maybe you pick a word that rhymes or a word that has an opposite meaning like “good things come to those who take” or “good things come to those with faith”. Maybe you rewrite it completely to give it a new meaning or perspective such as “my jealousy is always greener when you’re standing on the other side” or “the grass is always blue when you’re not on my side”. This type of wordplay can spur new lines of thinking and can lead you to build out the rest of a stanza for a poem.
Lastly, have fun with it! Poetry for some reason has this reputation of being high-brow or inaccessible. I would actually argue it is the complete opposite. Poetry is a way to throw out normal writing conventions and have fun rhyming or using double meaning to convey a new message. Give yourself the freedom to write nonsense! Make a list of your favorite words. Make a list of your least favorite words. Write a sentence that could have two meanings. Try to tell a full story in one sentence or less. Just challenge yourself to use words in a way you haven’t before, a way that has no rules or expectations.
If you would like to find community through your writing journey, the library is always here for you. Our next adult writers group, Write On!, is on April 24th from 6 to 7:30 PM at the Central Library. Or you can join us on April 20th at Mickey’s coffee and bookstore for our monthly Vocal Local program to share stories and musings. And as always, we would love to personally recommend you a book of poetry if you ask!
