I never pass up an opportunity to write a poem. Poems do not have to be based on good experiences; they can be based on bad ones too. Try writing a poem about something awful or unpleasant that happened to you. Bad things happen to everyone. Maybe you got hit in the nose with a baseball, or fell out of a tree, or had your bicycle stolen, or were scratched by a deranged cat, or got a terrible stomachache after a meal. Actually, all of these things (and many more) have happened to me, and I’ve made notes about them. Perhaps I’ll write poems about some or even all of these experiences.
Sit down, open your notebook, take out your pen or pencil, and list as many unpleasant things that have happened to you as you can. You’ll be amazed at how many there are. Of course you can also list things that have happened to other people, including your friends, family, neighbors, and schoolmates. As always, you can make things up. Pick one of the items on your list, write down everything you can think of about it, and then try to put it into a poem. Remember, you’re allowed to exaggerate…and I hope that you do.