Unlock Your Creativity Through Poetry

Welcome back to the 501 on First Blog where we are going to take a look at releasing creativity through writing poetry. If you never thought you could write a poem, put that thought to rest starting now. With simple instruction, you’ll be writing poetry before you know it. We have two poem forms to show you, the Windspark poem and the “What if…I might” form.

Windspark

The first form, the Windspark poem consists of five lines, each with a required format, and the first line you don’t even have to write, it is “I dreamed.”

Line 1: I dreamed

Line 2: I was _____________ (fill in the blank with a one-line subject)

Line 3: Where/Location (keep this line brief)

Line 4: Show action (an ing verb, plus a few more words to describe the action)

Line 5: An adverb (use ONE word that ends in ly

I dreamed

I was the river Seine

Beneath bridges

Flowing through the heart of Paris

Endlessly

“What if” and “I might”

Our second poem form is a seven-line fill-in-the-blank format with “What if” and “I might” forming three two-line stanzas (with a blank line between each stanza), with the seventh line asking a question. All you have to do is fill in the blanks. Your topic can be thoughtful, serious, silly, adventurous, or whimsical — you decide. No rhyming is required unless you want to add it. This is the outline for the poem with an example following.

What if . . . I might Poem Outline

Line 1: What if ______________________________________________________

Line 2: I might ______________________________________________________

Line 3: What if ______________________________________________________

Line 4: I might ______________________________________________________

Line 5: What if ______________________________________________________

Line 6: I might ______________________________________________________

Line 7: Ask a question.

What if . . . I might . . .  Poem Examples

Desert Jasmine

What if walked away into the desert unprepared?

I might get extremely thirsty and dehydrated.

What if I began to hallucinate?

I might think I am walking toward an evergreen oasis.

What if my hallucination was actually really, really there?

I might quench my thirst with a mimosa while sitting next to the scent of jasmine on the breeze.

Why doesn’t everyone walk into the desert unprepared?

We hope you have time to write some poems this month. What about Rochester, MN inspires you? Make it the topic of a poem. Thanks for being a part of our apartment community.