Why Write Poems?

 Why do we write poetry? The reasons vary from one poet to another - or even in ourselves from time to time - but these commonly occur:

 

• Artistic Expression - If you began to write poems in childhood or as a young adult, you likely have a gift for playing with words, writing poems with a sense of musicality, and/or capturing memorable moments and scenes.

 

• Connection with Other People - Poets often want to share their work with others. Hopefully, a parent, grandparent, teacher, editor, or poetry-loving-friend has nurtured your interest in poetry and will be honest (but tactful!) in identifying subjects and tones most likely to appeal to readers you don't yet know.

 

• Therapeutic Value - People in all age groups typically begin to write poems as a creative outlet for memories or emotions. These poems can serve an expressive purpose similar to journal-writing and can bring healing or interesting histories to families. Since publication is not the purpose for this type of writing, the poems might not connect with readers in general. However, if your revisions have readers in mind, therapeutic poems can speak for those who cannot express themselves.

 

• Publication - As you gain confidence in your writing, you might want your poems to appear in print journals, magazines, anthologies, or e-zines. Poets who take poetry seriously will be apt to study poems by other poets and carefully read the guidelines on each potential publisher's website before submitting their work.

 

• Literary Contribution - When you've placed a number of poems in journals or other publications, you'll hopefully begin to see your work as a contribution to the literary world!

 

For more tips on poetry, type a key word in the Search box of this blog.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

Writing a Sestina

After recently revisiting sestinas in an un-recent book of poems, I decided to give this rather complex form a try. In case you’d like to do the same, the unrhymed pattern goes like this:

• ·      Thirty-nine lines
• ·       Six stanzas (verses)
• ·       Six lines ending in six words that rotate in end-line position before completion in a tercet or envoy of three lines using all six words

Confusing? Yes, but seeing how the end-line pattern goes will help:

1. ABCDEF

2. FAEBDC

3. CFDABE

4. ECBFAD

5. DEACFB

6. BDFECA

7. (envoi) ECA or ACE

Since I decided to write a sestina about life in a more trusting time, I needed six words able to support the poem’s sounds, sense, and meaning, so I went into a stream-of-consciousness mode, let groups of relevant words come to me, then wrote them down without censoring myself. Any adjustments needed became obvious after the poem got underway.

If I had adhered strictly to traditional rules, the end-line words would repeat according to the above pattern. However, some poets (myself included) use occasional substitutes with similar sounds. Therefore, with slight variations, these six words got me going:

 

A – gathered, B – yard, C – over, D – song, E – laughter, F – home

 

Clover Chains

On Summer evenings when children gathered

like bees on white clover in our front yard,

we joined hands and sang, “Red Rover, come over,”

but I don’t remember the end of that song.

We played, and we sang amidst peals of laughter

until the stars flickered, and Some called them home.

 

Neighborhood kids showed up at our home –.

outdoors or in – where young children gathered

and even the shyest child dropped her guard.

A small record player turned out favorite songs,

and we danced until the music was over.

 

No one was eager for playtime to be over,

nor be in a rush to hurry on home.

I wish I’d remember the end of the song.

I wish I could be where young children gather

and play in white clover on their front yards.

I wish this deep hush would ring out with laughter.

 

But we grew up, unsure of what’s after

with our carefree hours of fun feeling over

and white clover wilting on Some other’s yard.

We bought our own homes, sought unlimited loans,

had children in game rooms where young adults gathered,

but few could remember the words to the song.

 

Discordant music seemed harmoniously wrong,

and sharp wit and irony dulled levity and laughter.

In polarized groups young people gathered,

wondering if, soon, the world would be over

or if someone would rob our well-guarded homes

where bees seldom wandered into manicured yards.

 

Sometimes the changes in life seem too hard

to remember the words to harmonious songs.

Yet love still abides in the happiest homes,

filled with good grace and mercy and laughter

until, silent, the breath of this life is over,

and we find peace where loved ones have gathered.

 

Surely, angels, with heavenly song, will gather

to welcome us home, calling out, “Come on over!”

as clover-filled yards await our sons and daughters.

©2025/04, Mary Harwell Sayler with photo of my very rough draft

Revise, Revising, Re-Vision

 

Writing a poem sometimes starts with a fresh idea such as making an unusual connection between two different things. As we go back over what we’ve written, we might feel we’ve successfully conveyed our idea to other people who read our work. Or not!

 

In the following poem, I used the three-line haiku form (5/7/5 syllables) to make my comparison:

 

The size of rainfall
can’t be measured in drops or
inches but thread count.

 

Somehow that didn’t quite get the thought across, so I revised the poem and loosened the lines:

 

A heavy deluge
cannot be measured
in meters or inches
but thread count.

 

Hmmm. Maybe that clarified the idea somewhat, but I didn’t like the way the poem just sat there like a flat statement that probably wouldn’t make sense to people who have never heard rain referred to as “sheets.” Also, the poem needed energy.

 

The final revision seemed livelier and clearer, thereby securing its place among other haiku and mini-poems in my book, Talking to the Wren, published by Cyberwit.net.

 

Deluge!
Sheets of rain
cannot be measured
in meters
or inches
but thread count.

©2020, Mary Harwell Sayler

 

Sometimes, though, a poem doesn’t begin with an idea so much as a vision, an image, a story. For example, I wanted to capture true events in this poem:

 

Civilian Sighting

In woods on the other side of our nearest neighbor,
a man as slim as a new limb set up his home. He
found water from the pond and plenty of berries
until someone complained to the local law. An old
childhood chum, who keeps an open place in her
kind heart, charmed Facebook friends into giving
to those less fortunate than themselves. Yes! Let’s
paper-line the moneyed edges of a windfall, but
can’t we let an emaciated man live in the forest
beside us, at least until his shadow grows larger
than that armadillo nesting freely in the hedge?

 

Although the paragraph form gave this prose poem the look and feel of a story, I’d hoped for a more poetic-feeling result. So I tried breaking the lines differently to see/hear if that improved the poem.

 

Also, the poem seemed too wordy, which lessened the dramatic effect and clouded the overall image. So I cut words, hoping to sharpen the focus.

 

To do that, however, I first had to refocus on the important parts of the story. I needed to ask myself, “What am I trying to say?”

 

As the name implies, a re-vision adjusts the vision. Ultimately, the revision helps readers to see what you see as you invite them into the experience of the poem.

 

Civilian Sighting

In the woods
on the other side
of our nearest neighbor,
a man as slim as a new limb
set up his home. He found
water from the pond and
plenty of berries until someone
complained to the local law.

A childhood friend I
found again on Facebook
asked others to give to
those less fortunate than
themselves. Yes, but could
we not let an emaciated man
live in the woods beside us,
at least until his shadow looms
larger than that armadillo
nesting in the hedge?

©2020, Mary Harwell Sayler from the poetry book A Gathering of Poems

 

 

…

 

Saying More Than You Say

At least a dozen times in offering poetry tips on this blog, I’ve used the word “clarity,” while  many dozens of times I’ve urged poets to “Be clear!” I stand by that advice. But….

A poem that gives up all of its secrets in one reading will not likely draw readers to read it again and again.

Telling all about something is not as effective as inviting others to join you in the experience. Telling all also takes away the mystery and desire to know more.

The idea is to be clear but say more than you’re actually saying. This paradox makes poetry writing more difficult yet more rewarding for both the poet and the reader.

Irony can help to ease the transition between clarity and ambiguity. For example:

Black vultures at rest –

surprisingly beautiful –

on the dead branches

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2020

The words make a clear enough picture, but who ever thought of a vulture as “beautiful”?  I certainly hadn’t until seeing them congregate on the bare arms of winter! The stark contrast – and irony – caught my attention enough to commemorate the unusual sight and invite you, too, to be watchful for unexpected moments.

Another way to say more than you say is by writing only the highlights of a story, leaving readers to wonder what this might mean to them or someone they know. For instance:

Pain level a ten –

She thought she had a slipped disc.

Chemo starts today.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2020

Little brush strokes of haiku or, in these examples, senryu, automatically keep us from saying too much and giving readers no cause to pause and think. In this poem, for example, consider the opening pronoun as it relates to the last line.

We’re counting bird calls –

listening for a response.

Sometimes no one’s there.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2020

Sometimes irony will work, sometimes an unexpected viewpoint or turn of events. Regardless, poems do well with open endings that leave readers inspired, challenged, or at least interested enough to think about something they might not have otherwise considered. If, for example, you’ve ever had an opportunity to see the odd and, often, "useless" items donated to less fortunate people, this poem might speak to you in a clear voice while saying more than it says.

Alms

Impoverished peoples give generously 

of their patience, graciously accepting  

assorted hand-me-downs: the sequined

vest, silk tie, high-priced pair of heels.

Soon this stiletto heel will bore holes

into the earth where roots can nestle.

This silk tie will fasten branches to hold

a thin blanket, freshening in the sun. This

designer vest will warm the old woman

in search of water and one lost daughter.

She will wear sequins as icons of honor.

She will bear symbols, shining like rain.

Mary Harwell Sayler from the new collection of previously published works, A Gathering of Poems, ©2020

…

Find poems to love in anthologies

Every now and then, poets who are ready to step up their level of poetry-writing ask me to recommend poems they might study and emulate. No, not to mimic someone else’s voice or style, but to discover their own preferences and improve their use of technique.

Art students do this all the time. i.e. They typically study and copy the masters in order to find out what works and why. Then, having discovered a wide assortment of useful tools and techniques, they go on to find their own creative methods of working.

Conversely, I’ve found that many poets give little thought to poetry forms, styles, techniques, tips for revision, or precision in their choices of words. Worse, many poets don’t read poems by other poets, which handicaps them without their knowing it as they have few options except for what comes to mind.

Since we have centuries and centuries of beautifully expressed poetry to draw from, you can find all sorts of anthologies that collect poems around a central theme, subject, or form. Also, The Norton Anthology of Poetry aims to put together as many poems in English as possible.

To give you other anthologies I recommend with poems worth studying and enjoying, here’s a list of ones I’ve reviewed in the order shown:

The Seashell Anthology of Great Poetry 

The Paraclete Poetry Anthology 

Saint Peter’s B List 

Villanelles anthology 

Joy: 100 Poems 

The Soul in Paraphrase 

As publishers send me new copies of poetry books and anthologies to review, I’ll let you know of engaging poems and anthologies I’ve found that connect well with readers - including you and me!

Remember: We're first readers of poetry. Then, Lord willing, we become poets prepared to write poems that other people will want to read.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019, poet-writer

…

Painting poems with light and shadow

Where would a painting be without light, shadow, color? An artist must study, practice, and experiment to develop a unique and effective use of those elements of art.

Not surprisingly, a unique, effectively written poem requires something similar. The words of an overly introspective poet, for example, might come across as dark enough to lead readers down a black hole. A socially-sensitive poet aggravated by political debates or moral dilemmas might come across as too heavy-handed for readers to escape the wrath.

Let there be light!

Levity in poetry appeals to most readers, but with or without humor, a light touch often engages people more than a lengthy monologue.

Let there be shadow.

Glare brings discomfort, and too much light can blind. Various degrees of shading will tone down the light whether in a personal confession or a realistic suggestion of the dark surrounding us. Such tones of “we’re all in this together” will enable readers to relate and integrate the poem into their lives.

Let there be color.

A fresh image or exquisite use of language adds color to a poem - something readers can sense and see. Similes comparing this to that or metaphors saying “this IS that” help readers to experience what we’re trying to convey.

Let there be brevity.

As the old adage says, a picture is worth a thousand words, so the more you focus on helping your readers picture your poem, the less words you’ll need. Poems with active verbs and easy-to-picture nouns need fewer words too.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, poet-writer 

…

Keeping records makes it easy to do a poetry book

This week I’ve been going through my Word files, gathering poems for my next book, which I hope to send off soon to a poetry publisher. Trying to decide which poems to include can be a daunting task with hundreds of poems from which to choose, but record-keeping has made the job much easier.

As I wrote each poem, I typed every new piece on its own page in my Word file of “Poems.” Since I often “tweak” or revise my poems (sometimes even after they’ve been published!) I space down from the last line then simultaneously press “Ctrl” and “Enter” to start a new page. That way each page will stay put, enabling me to add or delete lines without disrupting the entire file. For instance, I might later need to add “Revised” and the date of that revision.

Other additions to the top of the page came about when it occurred to me to type key search words for each poem. For example, as I write poems of “Faith,” “Nature,” “Family,” I type those words beside the date of writing. Then I can go back and find all the poems I’ve written on a particular subject. Or I can find poems in a particular form.

Recently, for example, I’ve been writing a lot of haiku and other minipoems, so I type “Haiku,” “Aahcoo,” “Senryu,” or “Micropoem” at the top of the page and, occasionally, traditional form names such as “Sonnet,” “Villanelle,” or “Prose Poem.” If I decide to collect my haiku together for a book or chapbook, the search for those poems will be made easy by simultaneously pressing “Ctrl” and the “F” key. Immediately a “Navigation” column comes up for typing the key word in the “Search Document” space. And presto! All of my haiku that I’ve labeled as “Haiku” will automatically pop onto the list.

Without that seemingly small step, I might not have any poetry books! Instead, I was able to compile poems quickly for my book, Living in the Nature Poem, when my editor/publisher expressed interest. All I had to do was search for "Nature," and relevant poems came up. Similarly, "Praise" poems came together for my book PRAISE!

Another aspect of record-keeping has to do with each poem’s whereabouts. It might be best to type the date and publication to which I’ve submitted a poem at the top of the poem’s page too. However, I didn’t think of that until long after the fact. So I have a “Poetry Submission List” file with poems listed alphabetically by title followed by the date and place sent. If the poem is declined, I put “No” and the date of that response in the file, then send the poem to the next publishing possibility, noting that info too.

When the editor of a journal, e-zine, or anthology accepts a poem, hallelujah! I note that in the poetry file and also add the title (again, alphabetically) beneath the “Poetry” heading in my “Bio” file where I keep a record of every publishing credit, big or small.

Keeping a Bio record of those credits gives me a quick place to search for info to include in the “Acknowledgements” page for each new poetry book or chapbook, so I can appropriately thank previous publishers and acknowledge the publications which included my work.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2017

For more on record-keeping and submitting manuscripts of all genres to traditional and indie publishers, order the Christian Writer’s Guide e-book from Amazon Kindle.




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Observation makes a poem

Poets often think poetry writing requires a heightened imagination, but I don’t usually find that to be true. More likely, a well-written poem takes keen senses and heightened observation –- something we can appreciate and learn with practice.

To do this, simply notice – really notice – what’s going on around. Some call this being present in the moment then capturing what’s there –- something I find especially helpful in writing nature poems.

Yesterday, for example, we took our lunch to a lakeside park where we sat, soaking up the day’s beauty and unseasonably warm weather. However, the deciduous trees along the lake knew we’re still in winter months, and they behaved accordingly.

Looking at them, I remembered that cypress trees turn brown, which always surprises me as I think of them as being evergreen. Nevertheless, they’d turned to rust, and so the thought of their needles rusting came to me, along with the line “The rusty needles.”

To expand that image into something readers might recognize over a sewing kit, I needed the next line to explain that I’m talking about trees in winter, which made…

The rusty needles
of wintering cypress

Observing the present line lengths encouraged me to count syllables, and sure enough, haiku happened. With five syllables on the first line, I only needed another syllable on the second line to round out the traditional seven-syllable count.

5 The rusty needles
7 of wintering cypress trees….

…and then what? They weren’t doing anything but standing there. Or, were they?

Thinking about needles –- with or without rust –- added the thought of sewing, which brought the idea of stitching the lake and sky together. A little tweaking rendered the final five syllables needed for a 5/7/5 traditional haiku form.

The rusty needles
of wintering cypress trees
stitch the lake to sky.

by Mary Harwell Sayler, © 2017

…

WE: the poets

Cladach Publishing kindly sent me a copy of the new book POEMS to review, but most likely, the poet-author James Troy Turner will not see this. According to the book’s Preface, his poems “were written on napkins, on the pages of notebooks, journals, and legal pads, to name a few – whatever paper Troy had handy when inspiration came.” With no laptop or computer on this list, he’s most likely to be hanging out with his dog Pedro than on the Internet.

Reading POEMS, you can’t help but notice the honesty, faith, and immediacy expressed in the rhythmic, often rhyming lines. In the first poem, “God,” for example, the “I” of the poem candidly states:

“You cleansed my soul and healed me up
with tender love and care.
I only wish that I had known
that You were always there.”

Other poems, such as “Wedge of Satan,” offer fresh, unpretentious insight –

“Misunderstanding is the pulpit of evil.
It eats through your soul as the grain with the wind.”

– or they offer observation, as shown in “Lonely is the Man” –

“Lonely is the man with his face in his hands.”

– or humor, as in “All the Really Good Poems Never Get Written”

– or vulnerability and an active mind, as in “Thought:”

“I’m really not a poet;
If you read this, then you’ll know it.
But I have fun trying –
To stop would be like dying”

– which is truly spoken like a true poet.

In “About The Poet” at the end of the book, we learn that school was hard for Troy as his family “moved state to state following the harvest of various fruits.” Although an English teacher, Ethel Dean Bell, “instill(ed) in him the desire to write,” Troy did not study poetry or the fine arts but served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and later enrolled in the Denver Automotive and Diesel College.

What I’m trying to show is that poets like James Troy Turner are salt-of-the-earth people who can’t not write the poems that come to them.

I’m not sure how salty I am, but I strongly identify with Troy’s faith and the disability to stop writing.

At the other end of the spectrum of poets, we might find disbelief, cynicism, and infatuations with power, money, sex, intellectualism, and one’s own self. Having the educational advantages of language and literature at their highest, such poetry is often eloquent or, to use a favorite term, “gorgeous,” thus making beautiful the too-common contents of vulgarity, dishonesty, or despair.

Over the years, I’ve aspired to writing better and better poetry, eventually managing to line my office with seven shelves of poetry books, anthologies, and how-to’s on poetry forms, scansion, and revisions. Now, having read them at least once, my “techniques” have improved, and I’m grateful for what I’ve learned, but the pendulum has swung too far toward design, rather than content.

If WE: the poets want real readers, we need to speak to and for real people in our poems.

If WE: the poets switch our sights from prizes and publication to being more sincere, clear, and observant of what’s right in front of us, our poems will consistently be “winners.”

If WE: the poets need to return to our down-to-earth roots of honesty, truth, and genuine caring, POEMS will help.

Mary Harwell Sayler, poet-writer, reviewer, © 2016

POEMS, paperback


…

A poem is a poem is a poem

What is a poem? Answers will vary, depending on whom you ask, but basically, a poem is a poem because the poet calls it a poem or because someone recognizes some sort of poetic quality in it.

Occasionally poets have called scrambled lines or incoherent phrases a poem without fear of having their poetic license revoked. However, if you want your poems to be appealing to you and other readers too, think of the characteristics that long-cherished poems often have in common:

EMOTION-APPEAL – Stirring poems address a topic or situation you care about – one with which most people can identify. In other words, your subject matter matters – not only to you but others as well.

MIND-APPEAL – A memorable poem clarifies a concept, often using a comparison to bring an abstract subject into clearer view or sharper focus. You make the unknown better known – to yourself and to your readers.

EAR-APPEAL – A well-tuned poem composes syllables and word plays to sound and resound with echoes and rhythmic beat. As maestro, you set the pace and call the tune to which many others sway.

EYE-APPEAL – A well-formed poem uses words, punctuates thoughts, and breaks lines to clarify a picture or to spotlight something you want to stress. With fine-tipped artistry, you show precisely what you intend to communicate or reveal.

SPIRIT-APPEAL – A lasting poem speaks truths that ring true and stay true. Your reception of love, justice, empathy, and forgiveness provide real wisdom and unbiased truths for you to compare, contrast, or re-present.

Memorable poems have timeless connections to the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical natures people experience themselves or encounter in others. Such lines, drawn from common interests and concerns, bring fresh insights or conclusions you easily could have missed without the poem to coax you toward a longer, deeper, closer look.

• Poems are meant to be seen. They're meant to create mental pictures and re-create physical scenes.

• Poems are meant to be heard. They're meant to be read aloud – in public or in private.

• Poems are meant to be felt – to have a strong impact on emotions, mind, senses, and spirit.

Unfortunately, some feelings erupt from misunderstandings. Some sounds merely make noise. Some sights are not worth seeing. However, when you have a single theme and a clear purpose in mind as you edit or revise, your poem will be more apt to become a cohesive, artistic unit.

by Mary Harwell Sayler, (c)2016, 2012, 2005, 1983 from poetry course now as the Kindle e-book, the Christian Poet's Guide to Writing Poetry

5 kinds of poetry

In critiquing books and batches of poems, I often find some confusion about the type of poems a poet aims to write. That’s important to know, not as you write a poem, but as you revise since you need to keep a specific readership in mind – assuming you want your poems to be published in a journal, anthology, e-zine, or anywhere other than your own blog or website.

Even if you do self-publish, you’ll encounter far less disappointing responses from readers if you give them and your overall purpose some serious thought. For example, do you want to perform your poems on a stage, perhaps accompanied by music? Do you want your work included in a well-established poetry journal? Or do you hope your poems will uplift people spiritually or speak to them on an emotional level?

Your answers to the above questions should help you to narrow your focus on one of these common kinds of poems:

• Performance Poetry
• Greeting Card Verse
• Confessional Poems
• Contemporary Psalms
• Literary Poetry

Each of those types of poems has a different purpose and audience, but also a different style with differing techniques that make the poem work - or not! For example:

Performance Poetry – As the name suggests, this type of poetry is meant to be performed in front of a live audience, typically with music to accompany your recitation since success often rests on the rhythm. Such poems may be chanted or semi-sung as you would do in performing rap lyrics, though the beat might not be quite as strong.

Regardless, if you aspire to performing the poems you write, your subject matter must interest your intended audience. For a couple of extreme examples, a nightclub setting will require a totally different topic for each poem than, say, a Bible-based or liturgical poem performed in a church or synagogue.

In either case – or somewhere in-between – the poem can rhyme or not, but too much rhyme can be deafening while too little might not be heard without a strong beat to accentuate the rhyming words.

If you have someone to video tape your performance ahead of time, great! Without that feedback to learn from, however, you do well to grab your hairbrush and perform in front of a mirror until what you see and hear gives you a performance you’d welcome from someone else!

Greeting Card Verse – Short, rhyming poems with two to ten lines that acknowledge grief or celebrate a happy special occasion fall into this category. The key here is to be sincere in saying what you wish someone would say to you in similar circumstances. If the results speak to or for most people in a fresh way, you might approach the publisher of greeting cards with some samples of your work.

Confessional Poems – Because of the unique circumstances or people involved in this type of poem, a confessional poem nicely flows into conversational free verse but needs fresh insights or comparisons to lift the lines out of a diary and into a poem others will identify with and want to read. Honesty prevails as does language appropriate for your intended readers.

These poems can become psalms if they seek and speak to God instead of yourself or someone else.

Contemporary Psalms – Laments, praise poems, prayer-poems, cries, and thanksgiving to God form the heart, soul, and spirit of psalms written for readers today. These poems can be any length and work best in a sincere, conversational tone with little or no rhyme. In other words, the poem needs to be what you truly think and feel before closing on the remembrance that God is with you and aware of you and your concern.

Since I felt a need to count blessings and focus on the diverse causes of praise in my life, I’ve been writing and blogging Praise Poems, some of which began as laments or confessionals, but all of which end on an uplifting note – for me and, Lord willing, for you.

Literary Poetry – All of the above have the potential to be of literary quality! But how does that happen? One way is to use a traditional form of metered or syllabic verse, both of which you can search out in previous posts on this blog.

No matter what form you use, though, the inclusion of such traits as imagery, alliteration, internal rhyme, or other technique is vital to the success of a poem. Each of those factors and many other options are discussed in the Christian Poet’s Guide to Writing Poetry – the e-book version of the reader-friendly poetry home study course I revised with Christians in mind to assure you that the examples used to illustrate various poetic traits or forms will consistently be G-rated.

by Mary Harwell Sayler, © 2016

...

Using alliteration for sound echoes and for fun

In case you haven’t had a chance to experiment with alliteration, here are two types to practice in poems or when you want to turn up the audio for emphasis or humor in other genres of writing.

Assonance – This type of alliteration with vowels is more subtle than consonance, which is more subtle than rhyme. If words end in a vowel, they might rhyme too, but assonance typically comes in the sound of vowels at the beginning of the words or inside them.

For example, read the following question aloud and listen for the repetition of the uuuu (ew,ew,ew) sound in every word but “as.”

Would you choose Hugh as true?

Consonance – The alliteration most people notice when they’re reading is consonance where two or more words in close proximity begin with the same consonant.

Generally, the repetition of two or three consonants on one line lend musicality to a poem. As you read the following, listen especially for the echoing m, r, and g.

…the murmuring sounds of morning

Like end-line and internal rhymes, consonance emphasizes word, but much more subtly. A big exception is if you use multiple words with alliteration. Then you have a tongue twister, such as Suzy sells seashells by the seashore. Try saying that aloud a few times to see how long your tongue lasts without twisting!

Now, go back, reread that last sentence above and notice the alliterative use of l’s and t’s. You can slip that type of consonance into descriptive scenes in novels or other forms of fiction to add a touch of musicality. And, you can even use light alliteration in your nonfiction to lighten a mood.

As you increase sound echoes with consonance, you can increase the humor to a certain point before getting just plain silly:

Susie’s sale of seashells
makes no sense to me!
Why does she sell seashells
when, on the beach,
they’re free? 

poem and article by Mary Harwell Sayler, © 2016, 2019

The ABC's of Poetry: A Dictionary for Children and for Fun gives you A to Z definitions of poetry terminology, forms, and techniques with lines from the author, other contemporary poets, and classical works to illustrate each entry.  Use this hardback for lively learning in classrooms or with creative kids and poets of any age.


…

Seasons of Poetry

Have you ever gone on a binge of writing poems then suddenly nothing? That ebb and flow of creativity mimics nature with its change of seasons or fluctuations of energy throughout the day in irregular intervals of work, play, and rest.

Like nature, too much work with too little rest or play throws off the flow. It’s like getting caught up in a flood of inventiveness, then having a long, dry spell. For a while, poetic thoughts stem from inspiration, flower with a sense of play, then wither into the work and worries of everyday life.

If that’s happened to you, I hope it helps to recognize this as part of a poet’s “norm.” Also, these dry times aren’t as unproductive as they might seem. They’re probably just parched and in need of rehydration.

For example, when poems don’t come to you as readily as you’d like, your creative self might need to find more options as you:

• Read poetry by other poets such as those reviewed in numerous posts on this site.

• Study and experiment with a variety of poetry forms and techniques as discussed in my e-book.

• Give your previously written poems additional thought and readings before you edit or revise.

• Practice your skills of observation by noting whatever your senses of touch, smell, taste, sight, and sound provide.

For instance, I’m writing this in the middle of an insomniacal night as dripping rain produces different sounds and rhythms, depending on the pitch of the roof and the density of the plants catching the life-giving water. I can attune my sense of hearing to each of those unique sounds or to the musicality they provide when heard together.

If I choose the former, I can describe the finger-drumming of the raindrops and their soft plunking sounds and varied tempo. Or, I can listen to the overall sound effect and find myself soothed, lulled, and, thankfully, ready to rest again.


by Mary Sayler, ©2015, poet-author of many books in all genres
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Finding the right word

Poets often have a favorite method of writing, and mine is to let words flow without censoring or editing until the poem has finished pouring onto paper and/or into my pc then taken a rest. Later, when I go back to revise, I read the poem aloud to locate and repair any rough spots.

With or without revision, a poem can speak clearly and well but still lack oomph. Sometimes this happens because of a lack of the imagery needed to help readers envision the experience or sometimes because of a lack of the sound echoes and musicality needed to create auditory interest or sometimes because of a lack of poetic energy, which is a nice way of saying: That poem is blah!

Correcting this situation most likely means spending a little more time with the poem and maybe with a thesaurus. To speed up the latter, I generally revise from my Word file, right-clicking onto each blah word then clicking onto the choice of “Synonyms,” but which one?

To find which synonyms will be effective in your poem, try this:

• Replace an abstract, unclear, or stale word with a synonym that increases the sound echoes in that line or the lines adjacent.

• Look for a word choice with interesting, thought-provoking connotations that add a new dimension or layer of meaning.

• Listen for the needed number of syllables. If your poem has a multi-syllabic word that mars the rhythm, find a synonym with one or two syllables to enhance the beat – or vice versa!

• Your best options for each new word choice will depend on the context of the poem, your overall theme, and the surrounding sounds, thoughts, or imagery you want to emphasize.

Hopefully, this will help to show what I mean:

The Poet in Pursuit of a Still, Right Word

The white stalk
of egret work
equals perfection:
Precision-oriented,
the S-shape
rocks forward
toward some intended
goal – a mystery
to me as it doesn’t
seem to notice
fish erupting
erratically in its
unruffled wake.

© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler

In revising “The Poet in Pursuit of a Still, Right Word,” I wanted the poem to illustrate everything I just said. So the word “stalk” might bring to mind the kind of stalks you find in leggy plants such as the ones growing in the margins of a lake where an egret “plants” itself in pursuit of dinner. In addition, the egret is most definitely a stalker stalking its prey. Then, the slow, determined movement toward the next fishing spot comes in a forward-rocking motion that shapes the bird into a big “S,” which hopefully evokes that very picture.

One evening, however, I watched an egret concentrate on one spot without moving as fish swished and splashed all around those long legs! What a picture of attentiveness to the task! And that’s the final image I hope to convey:

As you look and listen for the right word, sharpen your focus. Don’t let eruptive options ruffle you or unreal words reel you in. Observe. Be precise, and be like an egret – on the lookout for each freshly-caught word to surface and splash tastefully into line.


© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

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