You may end up with a list that has a wide range of emotions, which is fine. For example, you may write down: “anger, sadness, grief, anxiety, joy, happiness, confusion. ”
You may do a freewrite where you use the emotion as your prompt and write freely, without stopping, for a 10 to 15 minutes. Then, look over your freewrite and pick out lines or phrases that could go into your poem. You could also write about a personal experience where you felt that emotion. For example, maybe you felt angry when you got into a fight with your mother or when you lost an important match or game. Or perhaps you felt grief when you lost a close friend or relative. You may then use this experience as a jumping off point for starting your poem. You may try doing a brain cluster exercise around the emotion where you write down words or phrases that come to mind when you think of the emotion. Place them in clusters on the page around the emotion. You could then use these words or phrases in your poem.
“I measure every Grief I meet” by Emily Dickinson[3] X Research source “Anger” by April Benard[4] X Research source “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa[5] X Research source “What Are Years” by Marianne Moore[6] X Research source
Ask yourself, “If the emotion were a color, what color would it be?” and “What does the color smell like? Taste like? Sound like? Feel like? Look like?” For example, if you were writing about anger, you may write: “Anger is red. It smells like burnt toast. It tastes like dry mouth. It sounds like a siren. It feels like a slap in the face. It looks like a cluster of red ants. ”
For example, if you are writing about grief, you may focus on the experience of sitting at the deathbed of a loved one. You may describe the experience with sensory detail and concrete images to communicate the emotion you felt during the experience.
A simile uses “like” or “as” to compare one thing to another. For example, “My anger is like a pot bubbling over on the stove. ” A metaphor compares one thing to another without using “like” or “as. ” For example, “My anger is a hive of bees in the backyard. ”
You may try making a list of verbs that you think relate to the emotion or speak to how the emotion might express itself. For example, if you were writing about anger, you may write down verbs like “screams, flumes, explodes, yells, shouts. ” You may personify anger by writing: “Anger flumes at other. Anger screams when it doesn’t get its way. Anger explodes at the first sign of weakness. ”
You can also revise the poem by reading it to someone else and getting feedback from them. Be open to constructive criticism as it will only strengthen your poem.
You may search online for publications that have a call for poems on a specific emotion or are putting on a contests for the best poetry about an emotion. Your poem may be more likely to get published if it applies to a specific prompt or theme that a publication is looking for.
Sometimes poetry can act as a form of therapy and help you process intense emotions you may be experiencing. You do not need to feel pressure to share your emotional poetry if you are writing it only for yourself and your own enjoyment.
