New Era

Remember the vital lesson that I left you with in the previous article? "Though shall learn to discover and receive!" Through famous and established writers I came across very interesting and profound styles and forms of poetry and that encouraged me to venture further than free verse poetry. It's amazing to see how some of these forms and styles have existed long before my time and still continue to make waves.

Acrostic poems are most probably the easiest especially when you're an amateurish poet. The idea is to write down a single word or name, e.g. LETTER then write the word down the left hand side - vertically down the page - after that try to find other words that represent the individual letters, e.g.

L overs (paradise)
E motional (showdown)
T wo jolly peas in a pot
T ime will bring a perfect end
E nveloped with sweet kisses
R ather calm down and write

It is nice if the poem tells a story and the subject matter is related to the word you choose. In my opinion, in the above poem, the author dreams of the letter before it is written. The end comes as a reminder that the letter still needs to be written. With practice you can make the words rhyme at the end or the ending letters can spell a new vertical word - making the poem a double Acrostic poem.

Another exciting type of poem is the CONCRETE POEM: I know you know this has nothing to do with sand, cement and construction. Some writers know it as pattern or shape poems because of its ocular appearance. It is commonly known as a form of poem used during the third and second centuries (BC) - by Greek poets. The first time I discovered it, was through the British poet, Patience Agbabi whom I had the opportunity to share a stage with here in Namibia. Her poem touches on alcohol and is written in the shape of a bottle. I discovered the same bottle shape in a poem entitled "Mister Bottle" by my colleague and friend Joseph Molapong in his book "Come talk your heart" (2005).

Concrete poems can also change the shape and size of words. Some poets prefer to let their words trickle down the page like raindrops if the poem is about rain. Some play with sounds: when the words are spoken softly the words appear small and when it's loud, the words appear huge. Why not challenge yourself to write a concrete poem in shape of a tree, castle, fish, bus, or bottle - anything that has a good and strong outline.

Now look at the following sentence "She sells sea shells at the sea shore" - sadly not my own creation. As you already know most of the words start with the same letter, S. When this happens in a poem, it is called ALLITERATION and is frequently used as tongue twisters. William Shakespeare is one famous poet that used alliteration in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Why not write short verses that show alliteration in each line or challenge yourself to write an extensive 12 line poem?

Or write a poem that compares one thing with something else - A SIMILE. A lover might compare his or her love to a butterfly or if it's a love gone sore, to a snake or an irritating mosquito. Similes always find their way in poems because they are practical as a figure of speech that compares two unlikely things, like in the following part of a poem: "Her tears sound as sweet as violin strings." If you want to invite your reader to a more open ended comparison the following might work, "My sister loves to write short stories. When she's in front of a computer she is like a word breeding machine on high speed."

In his Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare makes comparisons of a different value without using the words "like" or "as" which are commonly used in similes. You probably remember this famous line: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate." If your idea is still to become a skilled poet then follow my example and learn from the best. They can help you explore different styles and perfect your craft and in the process you could find your own innovative style. If its difficult for you to know who some of the best writers and poets are, here is a list of my muses, hopefully through them you'll discover your own (Maya Angelou, E.E. Cummings, Jane Austen, Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, and a bit closer to home, Wole Sonyinka and Dambudzo Marechera). If you don't know much about the latter poets or any other poets you came to know about, I would suggest you go on an investigation so next time we can compare notes.

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