Ten Essential Poems to Write — with Examples
From ars poeticas to self-portraits
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Challenging yourself to write in poetic forms may not be essential for every writer to grow, but I think it is for me.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t get excited about trying out every form (looking at you, pantoum) but I keep at it because experimenting with different forms and themes pushes me to think in new ways.
Forms mobilize me to write things I otherwise wouldn’t.
Not just that, but understanding traditions of poetic forms allows me to read poetry with a better depth of understanding. Form allows us to study the effects of certain techniques as we can see them used by many different poets.
But there’s also another aspect: Categorizing poetry with similar housing or themes creates juxtaposition and a kind of timeless conversation across the void.
Creating, engaging with, and revolutionizing poetic form opens us to more purposeful metacognition and conversation within poetry. It’s the opportunity to be part of a greater dialogue. One poet wants to create a self-portrait, and…
