Tips for Writing Poetry

The important thing when starting

a poem is to have a strong

premise and then build upon it.

If you don’t have a strong premise then

your poem is all about nothing… like this one.

This poem is about nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

It’s not even a poem really,

It’s just stream of consciousness

dribbling out on this blank page.

Still, though, it’d be nice if it

were about something.

Something important, like, religion

or politics, sex and love, or drugs and

kittens, or  what shoes make me look thinner.

A poem about nothing.

nothing at all,

why are you still reading?

Don’t you have something better to do?

Shouldn’t you make better use of your time?

This is seriously about nothing.

I mean, zero substance here.

There’s no heart wrenching finale, some

catharsis or hallelujah chorus of angels.

It’s just words on a page lining up.

I could write about toe nail clippers,

or teeth whitening, maybe about

paperclips or what I had for lunch,

and it’d still be about nothing.

Nothing at all.  

I didn’t have a strong premise,

so it’s all about nothing.

maybe it’ll come to me later,

something,

to write.