Writing Nature Poems

1
Writing Nature Poems
OpalYou are ice and fire,The touch of you
burns my hands like snow.You are cold and
flame.You are the crimson of amaryllis,The
silver of moon-touched magnolias.When I am with
you,My heart is a frozen pondGleaming with
agitated torches by Amy Lowell 
2
Getting Started

• Choose a topic, it can be anything.
• I choose . . . My dog!
• His name is Pooh-Yie
• That will be my title
• What is your topic going to be?

3
Think about how your topic makes you feel

• I feel calm every time I scratch my dog.
• I feel calm every time I smell him, even when
  hes wet.
• Why is that?
• How do you feel about your topic?

4
Have you ever felt this way before?

• I feel calm when Im in the mountains.
• I feel calm when Im looking at an ocean.
• I feel calm when I tuck my children into bed at
  night.
• It makes me feel like time doesnt exist. It is
  a primordial calm.
• What do your feelings remind you of?

5
Think about what you want to say

• I want to tell people how I feel when I scratch
  my dog.
• I want to tell people that I feel a connection to
  a deeper understanding of myself simply by being
  with my dog.
• I want to tell people that even the smell of my
  dog when hes wet is comforting to me because it
  evokes this silent communication with my dog, and
  with nature.
• What do you want to say?

6
Searching for Metaphor

• A metaphor is a description or an image of one
  thing that represents something else.
• A teardrop is dew upon my face
• The wind is the breath of time
• The trees are earths thoughts reaching for the
  sky
• My dogs ruff is Olympian Moss.
• Now, Write your own metaphors!

7
Choosing a Form

• Sometimes poems benefit from a form, such as a
  sonnet or a haiku. There are lots of forms,
  check out The Word Shop to find one youd like to
  explore.
• Sometimes a free form is used for a poem to allow
  enjambment to convey meaning.
• I will write in free form.
• How about you?

8
Constructing Your Poem

• Start by writing down your thoughts
• I like to scratch my dog
• I like to smell his ruff
• Its not really the smell that soothes me,
  though, it is a connection to my dog that makes
  me feel more a part of nature
• I make this connection through the smell of my
  dog as I scratch his neck
• Go ahead, write them down, let your consciousness
  flow like a stream

9
Add Some Scenery

• I notice this feeling when Im alone with my dog
• In the mornings when I come out of my room and
  his tail thwacks against the floor
• Or late at night when I cant sleep and I go out
  to find him so that he can help me relax
• These are the times I am especially comforted by
  burying my nose in his ruff and smelling his musk
• How do you experience your topic?

10
Write Your Rough Draft

• Pooh Yie
• I love the musky smell
• of my dog
• coming in from the heat
• or wet,
• in the morning,
• tail thwacking against the floor
• in circular rhythm
• welcoming my return
• from dreaming,
• or when I can't sleep
• from the restlessness
• of the day,
• I scratch behind his ears
• squeeze his flesh into folds
• bury my nose into his ruff,
• breath his primordial aroma
• and I am calmed.

11
Editing

• Okay, this isnt bad, but how can I make it
  better?
• Metaphors?
• Allusions?
• Enjambment?
• Language?
• How can you improve your poem?

12
Finishing the Poem

• I want a better word for dreaming
• I want a better description of the calm I feel
• I want to emphasize that its not the smell, so
  much, as the silent communication I have with my
  dog that calms me
• Im going to make some changes
• How can you make your poem all it can be?

13
Pooh-Yie

• It is not his odor
• coming in from the heat
• or wet,
• but in travail of morning,
• tail thwacking against the floor
• in circular rhythm
• welcoming my return
• from sufferance,
• or when I can't sleep
• from the restlessness
• of the day,
• I scratch behind his ears
• squeeze his flesh into folds
• of Olympian moss
• bury my nose into his primitive
• ruff, breath his ravishing musk
• redolence
• of primordial calm.