Imagery is Poetry - Page 2
by Joe Lavigne
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A good tactic is sticking to similar images through out a poem. For instance in one of my own love poems I used the different parts of the universe (i.e. planets, stars, the blackness of space, etc.) to describe an ended relationship. This way each new metaphor (or simile) seems to build off the last giving readers a sense of continuity and logically building the image in their mind. It's easy to imagine a planet and then add stars to that image in your mind. But to picture a bucket and then a moon, you have to pretty much wipe out the first image from your mind. Okay, got the idea? Good, then here's an exercise I like to do occasionally to get into an imagery mood. I take a list of twenty things or objects of my own choice, add an "is" at the end, and then fill in the blanks with whatever off-the-wall mental image I come up with. This is what the set-up looks like:

love is ___________________
eternity is ________________
my hand is _______________
war is ___________________
etc.........

Give it a try and see if it helps you. As a poet, always focus on providing your reader with an image to remember, no matter how basic the image. It is the mental picture that will stay with them the longest.

Happy writing friends!
 
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