Poetry Challenge Week - Exploring a Poem

Today we start the first mini poetry challenge that we will have once a month beginning on the second Monday. The beginning of this poetry challenge is for you to choose a poem and tell us why or rather what it is about it that you love. Is it the topic, the flow, the rhythm, the rhyming, or is it more than one thing you love about it? What is it that draws you into it and why it is important to you?

This isn't about tearing something apart; this is about understanding what it is that draws you in so that you can understand your own poetry better and in doing so adding breadth and depth to it.

Different Ways to Explore

Read it out loud.
Read it backwards (line by line not word for word)
Write down your feelings about it.
Is the topic one that you find yourself drawn to again and again?

There is no wrong way to do this, just tell us all you can about the poem that you choose.

In future challenges we will be choosing one specific poet or poem to explore but I thought it would be nice for everyone to choose one of their own to start with.

Now if you are one that has stayed away from other poetry for whatever reason, (I did until I started understanding why and what poetry I actually like to read and explore) don't worry, this is your chance to find poetry that you enjoy.

If you do not have any poetry books, go to Amazon online and you can take a look at their free poetry ebooks to explore as well as other poetry ebooks. I would recommend choosing one that you can download onto your Kindle app (whether on a Kindle, other tablet, or on your computer) so that you can read it and do this exploration now instead of in a week or two or three when a book in print would arrive. Although you could also go to your local book store and choose a book there as well to have it in hand today. You have options, just find a poem that draws you in and has you wanting to explore more about it.

Yes you can even go to the library.

Thanks to Amy McGrath for sharing this website for finding poems, Poem Hunter, for another place to discover poetry.

After you have accomplished the above write a poem in the same style as the poem you explored and put it at the bottom of the post with the information above.

Let the poem itself inspire your poem.

Take your time with this; the link will be open until Sunday, Nov. 17th. Come back tomorrow for a mini poetry prompt.