5 Tips on How to Craft Great Poems by Gbenga Adeoba

5 Tips on How to Craft Great Poems by Gbenga Adeoba

crafting-great-poems


5 Tips on How to Craft Great Poems


This post probably came to you as a search result. You have been checking the internet for tips on writing great poems; you are here now. I cannot give you THE tips, you can only have your attention called to some important things. Good writing is a product of effort and practice. Dedication.

1.Read.
Read good writing, reading will expose you to possibilities. Read across generations.
Hear what Ted Kooser has to say:
 

“We teach ourselves to write the kinds of poems we like to read .The more poems you read, and the more models you learn from and imitate, the better your writing will get.”


 
2. Write!
You have to write. No one writes a poem by merely thinking about it. Start: a good verse here, another there, and you are steps closer to that great poem. Fold that thought or idea into words. What do you intend to achieve with this poem? Pay attention to imagery. Engage the reader’s senses. Consider your diction. Make every word count.
 

 

 

Write and Rewrite

Write and Rewrite


3. Rewrite.
This great poem doesn’t have room for everything. Ease the burden, remove whatever is not working. Read the poem aloud to yourself. Have you stayed true to your purpose? Rewrite every problematic line. Ask questions.
 

 
4. Let the poem speak back to you.
 

5. Keep writing!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
‘Gbenga Adeoba studied Communication and language arts at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is the Associate Poetry Editor at Kreative Diadem. His works have appeared in Sankofa Mag, Elsewhere lit, Juked, Connotations Press, and others. He is interested in popular culture and post-colonial literature. He lives in Ilorin, Nigeria.
SOMETHING ABOUT NATURE by Aremu Abiodun

SOMETHING ABOUT NATURE by Aremu Abiodun

 

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SOMETHING ABOUT NATURE


The bright light shines, everyday,

A dynamic touch with blossoming appeal,

Nature has never ceased to mirror her existence,

There is always something to say about her beauty.


Life may be unkind, life may be wobbly,

Nature still is a beautiful gift to human,

Nature says to us,

Dwell in full existence and explore to extreme.


The plants smile happily in their green attire,

The trees house the birds,

The seas clap and dance to everyday waves,

The sky illuminates and puts the face of nature to sleep.


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Nature elucidates the Creator’s existence,

Nature’s breath is life to all,

Nature’s beauty is peace for all,

Nature is bold with reflection and fascination.


If only humanity can be kind,

If only we could stop being busy,

To learn from nature’s tale,

Life would be much easier.
 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A.A. Aremu is a graduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, where he studied Accounting. He is in constant search of knowledge and loves the pen.

 


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GREEN LIGHT CANDLE by Ray Ndebi

GREEN LIGHT CANDLE by Ray Ndebi

GREEN LIGHT CANDLE

As a whisper she came into my life
Riding the winds like a dream in the night
The voice of hers I heard and so in love
I fell with the white wings of that innocent dove
It seemed she had crossed many horizons
Many green pastures, many blue seasons
Many mountains with their peaks at their feet
Many suns that have gone to warm from heat
To have a stop here, at the door of mine
And tell me “you are a link of the One”

Photo credit: www.efdreams.com

Photo credit: www.efdreams.com


For she came right from the blooming future
Where smiles are the wonder of the nature
The spark in her eye was that in my heart
She was like a candle with a green light
Gently dancing in the night of my day
Silently leading me along that way
That path between elephants, tigers, and snakes
Eagles, widows, werewolves and sharpened flakes
There is no time in the brown eyes of her
And there is always enough space to share
She was born with the hot tears of children
Born with the bow that smiles behind the rain
Born with the blood and soul of a blue throne

Born to crown life with a wonderful dawn.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Théodore René Ndebi, born in Cameroon. I graduated in Banking Management. But what really makes me proud and happy is WRITING !!!!! I started writing around 1990. I write the most I can.
I mostly write for children’s future. As a child, I had always dreamt of a world where poor children and orphans could be happy as well. I have many unpublished collections in French: Chaque Jour Un Poème, Rêve D’un Soir, La Missive Du Petit Prince, Suis-Je Assez Bien Pour Toi… I’m also author of unpublished novels in French (Cierge Noir, Plus Violent Que L’amour, Les Fruits De La Tempête…). My first published novel; THE LAST GHOST/Son Of Struggle got published in 2013 by AuthorhouseUK; it appeared in the LOS Angeles Times Festival Of Books Catalogue 2014 Page 8. Available online @ Amazon, Kindle, AuthorhouseUK, Barnes & Noble, Indie. I wrote numerous award winning texts. I am a Book Reviewer and Translator. I am a member of OneAfricanChild since 2013 and Co-Founder of Le Salon Du Livre Yaounde-Cameroon. You can check my works on: authorrayndebi.wordpress.com.Ray Ndebi on Facebook, @RTNdebi on Twitter, Facebook Page My Soul & Mon Ame.
YOU LIED TO ME, SWEETHEART by Vihasi Shah

YOU LIED TO ME, SWEETHEART by Vihasi Shah

YOU LIED TO ME, SWEETHEART

Hey, sweetheart you lied to me
You lied to me

You said it would be better some fine day
And night would be less dark one fine day

But you lied to me sweetheart
It’s hell repeating
every single day
Life doesn’t get better in any coming way

You lied to me, sweetheart

Hey, Life
You are my sweetheart
where have you got lost, sweetheart?

You knocked at the doors of my dreams, sweetheart
And You hid yourself, sweetheart

Stop childish games sweetheart
Stop kidding me, sweetheart

Embrace my breaths
Release me from pains

Photo credit: www.youqueen.com.

Photo credit: www.youqueen.com.


Hey, Life
You are my sweetheart

Kiss me when I sleep
Lift me to some peace

Give me hopes to hold on to you sweetheart
Hey, Life
You used to be my sweetheart

Still
You lied to me, sweetheart,
Don’t lie to me sweetheart,
Anymore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vihasi Shah is an Indian lady with vision and mission. Constant learner and human with utmost humanity who wants to put a smile on everyone’s face and wants to see world as one and combined lovable artistic place to live.
Lawyer in process, company secretary, writer, anchor, teacher, and volunteer. You can have a cool sneak peak at some of my works by paying a visit to my blog – https://everlastingsmilewisdom.wordpress.com
AND WHAT OF IT, IF THUS YOU LAID? by Oyin Oludipe

AND WHAT OF IT, IF THUS YOU LAID? by Oyin Oludipe

AND WHAT OF IT, IF THUS YOU LAID?


For Albert Jungers, poet and teacher

And what of it, if thus you laid?

Your worlds yet danced, for so did they

Whose naked lode yours sagely warms

And what of it, if thus you laid?

And dared the storm where tart it thrums

Reap I a race such bade to say

And what of it, if thus you laid?

Your worlds yet danced, for so did they

Photo credit: Pelumi Kayode

Photo credit: Pelumi Kayode


Postscript: a triolet in honour of Albert Jungers, a late writer and teacher of poetry.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Oyin Oludipe lives and writes in Nigeria. He is the recipient of the 2013 WRR Poetry Beacon Prize. His poetry, essays, and reviews have been featured or are forthcoming in Radar Poetry Journal, The Guardian, Afrikana.ng, Africanwriter.com, Arts and Africa, Akewi Arts House,  The Provo Canyon Review, The Bombay Review, Image Magazine of the University of Ibadan, and others. In 2015, he was a judge for the Green Author Prize, a literary award for young unpublished poets in Nigeria.

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