Write with me

Following on from my earlier attempts at understanding poetry, I've decided to try my hand at writing them (ha!). Please join me in my pitiful attempts at rhyme and meter and all that.

Today Jikku's year 1 class had a visitor - a poet called Coral Rumble (I like her already!). And here's an exercise she devised to write poetry.

POEM POT EXERCISE

1. Take one poem-making kit (a pot, lined A4, plain A4, scissors and a pen)
   
2. Fold the plain paper 4 times, creating 16 rectangles.
   
3. Cut along the lines until you have 16 slips of paper.
   
4. Decide on a subject you would really like to write a poem about, and write all your ideas - words, lines, phrases, similes - on the slips of paper. Use a new slip of paper for every idea and collect them all in your pot.
   
5. When your pot is full, empty out your ideas and treat the slips of paper like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Put your ideas in the order you'd like them to appear in your poem. Play around with the pieces until you are happy with your ordering.
   
6. Take the lined piece of paper and, taking each idea in order, expand your words, phrases etc into complete lines.
   
7. Check to see if you need to add or take away words so that the lines link.
   There you have it - your very own poem!

Share your poems in the comment box and I might just be tempted to show you mine.

Thank you!