Poetry Parenting Day 2

Welcome back (or just welcome)!
Thank you for not running away from your computer in fear at the absurdity of this blog series.

And please don't run away now.

Poetry Parenting
Helping your babies grow up
A blog series by Stephanie 

Lehhgo.

Most of you guys probably know what's up by now (if not, read the previous two posts) so I'm going to just right into it.

Tip #2: Tell a story.

Because nobody wants to hear a bedtime preach. 

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Most good poems tell, or at least are inspired by, a story. Without that, a poem is just an attempt at telling the world something that you don't even know for sure yourself. 

Don't think of a "story" in the literal sense. I know we're teaching baby poetry to grow up, but that doesn't mean an adventure tale is the only definition of "story" that applies. 

Did you stop when you walked outside and saw the rain-washed petals bathe the sidewalk because it was just such a stunning moment? That's a story.

Have you been questioning your ability to speak in public every time you look in the mirror for the past five years? That's a story.
Did something you read make you realize that the world needs to change its ways? That's a story. 



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And if it's truly a story, if it's truly yours, no matter how you tell it, your poem will be real. And real poems are mature poems.

The beautiful thing about poetry is that it can be intimately personal yet easy to relate to. Often it's the specificity of certain things that makes poems the most universal, because they reach more deeply into the readers and call forth individual memories.

So don't write just to sling words to together on a page.
Write something real. 

Enjoy loveliness and remember to muse! :)