How Life Is Like Poetry

Or more specifically — how living your life is like writing a poem

Japanese cherry blossoms in full bloom.

And if you’ve written a handful of poems or more in your lifetime, then my analogy should make sense to you.

But if you haven’t written poetry before, I’ll go through the process many poets take to write a poem.

First, a thought or idea comes to you. It could be a concept or theme you want to write about. Maybe one or two lines pop into your head and you jot them down.

Next, you flesh out the poem. Building open the first lines you write. You might decide on the verse structure at this point or simply let your thoughts flow on the page, letting your pen write in free-verse.

At some point, when you feel you have enough substance for the poem, you read it repeatedly. I like to read my poems out loud, to hear my voice bringing it to life.

During this stage, I’ll make changes. It’s not a full edit. But when I read it, if it doesn’t flow smoothly, then I rework the poem. Changing or removing words until I have a meter that flows.

Last, if I’m not comfortable with these changes or sense the poem needs more, I’ll sit on the piece for a while. At the earliest, I’ll return to it the next day. Sometimes I give it weeks or months before I touch the…