Writing Poems
written by: Michael Durack
Writing poems is harder than you think.
It’s not just a rhyming game, that’s mere child’s play.
It’s more than having paper swallow ink.
To start with, you’d better have something to say.
It’s not just a rhyming game, that’s mere child’s play.
The rhymes must serve the theme, not the other way round.
To start with you’d better have something to say
and know what it takes to marry sense and sound.
The rhymes must serve the theme, not the other way round
although you’ve still got the option of free verse.
Even then you must marry sense and sound
or your free verse will go from bad to worse.
Although you’ve got the option of free verse
you must not let it degenerate into prose.
Your free verse will go from bad to worse
unless the words catch fire, metamorphose.
Your poems will not degenerate into prose
if you use metaphor – say one thing in terms of another.
But make the words catch fire, metamorphose.
Choose carefully; ensure that they hang together.
Why not use metaphor – one thing in terms of another –
allow your imagination to take flight?
Choose carefully, make sure it all hangs together;
it will take time before you get it right.
If you allow your imagination to take flight
your poems will mean more than paper swallowing ink.
It will take time before you get it right
because writing poems is harder than you think.
- Writing Poems - February 20, 2025
