10 Ways to Write a Poem

I found the following post on Poetry Breakfast, a WordPress blog I subscribe to. Please stop by: https://poetrybreakfast.com/

1. Reassemble the torn bits of the poem
   he left on your desk in 1989
2. Listen to the waves wash around
   sanded jellyfish and mermaids
3. Retrace the steps he took
   to give you a birthday kiss
4. Dance with her in post-stroke
   and wedding dresses
   and a virtual audience
5. Feather the skinned knees of every
   smooth-cheeked kiss
6. Drink down wine
   turned to water
   turned to winter
7. Stretch the length of your spine
   along his hand and the lined page
8. Taste the fat of coffee cream lyrics
   sung by a burning boy
9. Lock eyes with clasped hands
   across happy hour smiles
   and congenital heart defects
10. Commit it all to paper
    commit to no one
    commit soul to holy hands
    commit the rest to memory

By Annmarie Lockhart

About the Poet:  Annmarie Lockhart is the founding editor of vox poetica, an online literary salon dedicated to poetry, and Unbound Content, an independent poetry press. A lifelong Bergen County, New Jersey resident, she lives, writes, and works two miles from the hospital where she was born. You can read her words at fine journals online and in print.