Why Poetry?

Why Do We Read?

Why do we write?

What is Poetry?

Poetry is a literary work in which
special intensity is given to
the expression of feelings and ideas
by the use of
distinctive style and rhythm.

Free Verse

Non-metrical,
non-rhyming lines
that closely follow
the natural rhythms of speech.
A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge
in free-verse lines,
but the poet
does not adhere to a metrical plan.

Place Poetry

Ways to Work in Poetry

• Abstract to concrete - Writing in drafts
• Flow & sound
• Figurative Language & Word Choice
• Poetic Tools: Repetition, Metaphor, Phrase sounds, Internal Rhyme, Enjambment
• Many More

Plain

Out here it’s all mostly nothing.
It’s the row of scrub trees;
A chain link fence to divide that
Patch of yard from this.

Out here the horizon is a friend:
She doesn’t have much to say,
Her mind filled with a run-on, tension
Wire conversation that never ends.

Out here an oak tree is true love;
And a water tower stands sentinel
To all the children’s dreams of
Falling, and flying away.

Out here, the overpass goes to
The softball fields, and the Casey’s,
And the driving range and to
Plain spoken hellos at an amble
Speed.

Here along the sidewalk
The bike path the road the drive
That heads out
Home.