Ways to write good poetry

The importance of a plot

On the poetry, unlike prose, is not reliant on plot. While it is possible to create a poem with a plot, a plot is by no means a requirement for a successful poem. It is merely one option out of many. Progression, however, occurs whether a poem has a plot or not.

There should always be a reason why one line appears before or after another. There should be a reason why the first line is the first and the last line is the last. Even in an Imagist poem, the description of the image needs to progress. The readers shouldn't feel as if they are being fed a series or random but related facts. They should feel as if the poem is leading them towards a shared goal or destination.

For many poets, progression is second nature. They automatically write in a linear style and it comes through with very little effort. That doesn't mean that they can just assume the progression of the poem is perfect every time, but they often find little reason for a change. Other poets spend much more time determining the order for their poetry. They consistently move or change lines simply because the original version (or even the revision) doesn't seem to move forward or evoke the right impression. Determining order can be especially difficult in longer poems and Imagist poems that are not intended to tell a story so much as to develop an impression or feeling in the reader.

There are no quick and easy solutions to the problem of progression. Every poem is different and has different needs. It is fairly easy to judge the progression of a poem with a plot, but a poem about an image or an issue can be harder to interpret. Below are some ways to measure progression.

This isn't an exhaustive list, but it probably covers 90% of poems.

Chronological: progression through time.

Spatial: progression through a physical position

Process: progression through a sequence of events.

Size: progression from the large to the small or the small to the large.

Climactic: progression through levels of importance

Relational: progression that shows a relationship such as cause and effect, problem and solution, comparison and contrast When reading and editing, try to determine what sort of progression is taking place and how successfully that progression is shown. Once you determine the type of progression you can judge each part of the poem by how it relates to the intended progression.

Sandalwood

Things past, keeps me awake
Thoughts that last bruise me to date
Brief encounters, musings,
Speechless gazing,
Awakens the moments
Exhumes and invokes
The dead and the dying
Slain love
Embalmed with life
Reborn in dreams
Haunts the day destroy the night
Like lovable Zombies!
In beautiful nightmares
The longing to feel
And the feeling to long
Slain with no mercy
With daggers of realities
Sacrifice
Aborted for life
Bruises and the scars
>From the battle of the tenderness
Fragrance of the dreams
>From the wars of resistance
Break through the sleepless nights
Forget me forgive me
But do not refuse me
The dreams of the moments
Memory of the sweetness
Of the days of belonging to you
We forget our dreams
We forgive our hearts
Beat away the dreams
With hammer of reality
Only to find........
Memory of the sweetness of the past
Are made with sandalwood!!!
More you beat and deny,
Memories will float and fly
Bringing in a night of
Charming suffocation!

P. Liyanage
 

Effusion

Skin on skin
Nut-brown gloss
Tanned caress; sharp as ripe
Hazels. Fine veins
Of heat traversing through Naked silk;
Luxurious Persia;
Your lips set hard
And sweet on mine
Breathe in one
Lingering motion
The heavy heaving and
Receding
Of two souls
Pulsing
To one heartbeat
Moments crumble
Like stale biscuit
Into the silver platter
Of the past
And a dream flits by
On curved wing
Shadowy scythe
Over the flesh of
Reality

Pawan Madri Kalugala
 

Our school days

Time is going in years & years
though the eyes are covered with tears
We have to say 'bye'
as we said 'Hi'....

I always remember the memories
lodged in my heart
who can avoid this overcast...
The teachers who guided us
to come along the way of success
I respectfully remember these 'deities'.
who teach us to live in peace...
Hundreds of friends
who are likely to save us from a vortex....
it's hard to write
the memories hidden in the uniform, "white"...
Sometimes I feel
schooling is the nostrum
to make a mind 'cool'
really, my feeling may be a truism...
I hear the voice of humming in my heart
"The school life is remarkable & unforgettable".

Buddhika Dissanayake Gampaha.
 

Life with having fate

Life is a journey
But I'm not an actor
To dance like others
In this hidden floor

Then who am I?
To look through squares
In a limited space
Searching for my soul

Tell me? Tell me?
Why am I here
Dreaming like a prisoner
Without any hope

Please explain me now
Why some people love
With a true heart
And make it cry

So I'm a prisoner in my heart
I have lost my soul deep inside
With a fate of love
Searching for a new life.

Sampath
 

Horizon is a mirage

One hot, nice evening
Sky and earth met in the horizon
But, in the cold, dark night
They separated without a reason
How far they were,
From each other...
Actually as you and I

Once we were very close
Suddenly you dropped my love
Now you have gone away
No one is near...
To read the agony in my heart,
And to see this sorrow

I need to live under your shadow
I can't even breathe without you
My mind recalls you,
More than thousand times
 

I know, horizon is a mirage
But my feelings don't like to accept it
I don't want to share my life,
with another
I'll be alone all my life...
However, if I can see your victory,
That's all what I need.

Yajeewa Sriyakanthi Subasingha
 

Young Girl

As the summer starts
The flowers began to bloom every where.
It is like the girl I saw on the road
Her fragrance is so sweet

It is like a romantic red rose
It inspires everyone to look at her
The inspiration of ours makes her smile for thousand times
Oh! what a beautiful smile she has
Her lips are like the pure blood of a human
Her lips always awake our feelings
No one can get his eyes away from her
Her beautiful blue eyes are like the strong deep blue sea
Her power, beauty, love and passion dances in her eyes
No one will forget her
Her thick long hair
It is like a cloud that moves very high in the sky
It shows the freedom on her life
The joy, happiness and the bright side
Oh!! it is unbelievable
I can't believe it
She is like an Angel that comes from the heaven
When she passes me
What I think is ....
Are all the teen girls like Angels that come-
from the heaven

Nihara Sangapala.