LISTS TO KEEP—POTENTIAL MATERIAL FOR POEMS

1.  Things you know about (such as astronomy, baseball, dinosaurs, computer

graphics, the American Civil War).

2.  Things you know how to do (such as cooking, repairing cars, building models).

3.  Jobs you’ve had.

4.  Places where you’ve lived or visited.

5.  Experiences you’ve found especially vivid (exhilarating, terrifying, funny, illuminating).

6.  Recurring dreams (not in the sense of aspirations but what passes through your mind

while you’re sleeping).

7.  Things you fear.

8.  Things you’d like to do, places you’d like to visit.

9.  People you’ve loved or hated (or both).

10.  Music, movies, paintings, poems, novels, and other specific works of art you love.

(You could also name composers, performers, directors, actors, painters, poets, novelists,

and other artists whose works you follow.)

Since poems can really be about anything, you should build on your own interests, your

enthusiasms, your affections and animosities.  Remember that you need to be specific.

Use terminology from the various fields in which you have some interest and knowledge.

A poem’s energy often comes from the details, perhaps because the language necessarily

becomes sharper, more focused—like a good photograph.

                                                            —John Drury