By: Donté D. Wylie I have been an amateur writer for thirty-one years. During that time, I have dabbled in writing cartoons, novels, short stories, crime stories, adventure stories, and recently, fictional tales whose themes center on historical mysticism. In writing those stories, I have delved into many different genres, such American history, politics, socialization, philosophy, science, love, psychology, crime, life, and death. With much chagrin, I must say that none of these areas gave me as much trouble as writing a cultural poem. The reasons are that many of my earlier and recent writing projects involved prior knowledge or research, which means that I did not have to rely on opinion or commentary. The other reasons are that writing poetry involves a combination between self-expression and artistic imposition, which unlike writing the other genres, means I have to defer from the guided and gilded path of reason and sometimes land in irrational settings. This explanation is called patterns and variation in poetry (the combination between chaos and control) according to The OWL at Purdue ( www.owl.english.purdue.edu/ ). If I am telling you this, then the question that you are wondering is: why am I teaching you to write something that I had trouble writing? Well Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe said, “What does not kill us makes us stronger.” By telling you how to write this poem I am doing two things: exercising my demons over writing cultural poetry and helping you to express some of your beliefs and feelings about issues and subjects that interest you in poetic form. Let’s begin. The first thing that a person needs in writing a cultural poem is an evaluation of ones beliefs, desires, dreams, or emotions about a particular topic on cultural issues. This means writing down all of those pet peeves, values (intrinsic or otherwise), beliefs (self taught, heard, or instilled by family or friends that you hang around the most), the people you love and the people you love to hate, the holidays you enjoy and the holidays that you wish did not exist. All of these things are the background that you will need to add content to your poem. Next, you will need to pattern your poem or structure it according to how you want your message delivered. The OWL at Purdue suggests that such a pattern is not easy to develop, but with practice can you decide on how your cultural poem will be delivered. For example, many of the traditional poems abide by meter, which is the beats and sounds of the line of poetry that emulated musical notes; iambic, which is the length of a line of poetry. These were the themes used in traditional poetic structures like the Spencerian (a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c-c) the Shakespearean sonnet (a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d) or the Petrarchan sonnet (a-b-b-a) , according to Nelson Miller of Basic Sonnet Forms ( http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm ). But, tradition poetic structure and form is not adhered to as much as it used to be, rather free verse is the new traditional of contemporary poetry according to the OWL at Purdue ( Pattern and Variation in Poetry - The OWL at Purdue ). Free verse is not as structured as the iambic pentameter or rhyming couplets or triplets or ballads from Shakespeare, Spencer, or Petrarch. It allows the writer to express himself or herself openly where the lines of the poem can be any length and the sound can varied from decrescendo to crescendo. Thus, in choosing free verse, you are combining the aural pattern (sound of the poem) with the visual pattern (look of the poem) to create a piece of poetry that is not bound by traditional structure and form. Working out the kinks with pattern could take weeks of practice to perfect. Since we obviously do not have that kind of time, we are going to speed up the process. The third step in creating a cultural poem is formulation of the body. To do this, you must set the message of your poem down in rough idea form. This means write it without regard for how it looks or sounds because you are worried more about deliver than science. Science can be worked on, but since most writers even the more experienced ones deal with writer’s block one way or another, free writing allows your ideas to surface at a time when you are struggling to get them to emerge. Look at the following example: Working for a living is all too bad I came across the worst I ever had I did not know when it would end I did not find a descent friend I turned over, slept, and forgot it all Until I received a startling call It said, “You’re dead. I will put you in a tome.” Lord, I said, save from impending doom. The following example is a good start, but certain concepts need to be worked out and explained. For instance, is this real or is this a dream? Who did he or she piss off that would want him or her dead? Why was the day the worst he or she ever had? Also, who is the person and is the poem itself cultural? If the answers to your questions leave you with uncertainty, then you need to add more details to your poem. Here is the previous passage revised and edited with more detail: A Hamandegger from a town out west Wanted to provide his family the best He left for work everyday But, sadness and hardship always came his way. Overbearing bosses and immature employees Make his days pressed like flattened peas Sitting at his anvil eating his soup He is caught up in a gossip loop In comes the bully at work, his target assured The Hamandegger is decked and floored He gets up and retaliates, but is called to the office The boss takes his employment and tosses it The Hamandegger grunts and groans as he leaves Gathering his tool belt, lunch pale and all he can retrieve By the end of the day, he cries as home waits After hearing the bad news, his wife puts him on skates The previous poem has a lot more detail. It tells you that the person being described is a male. He has a job in construction. He does not like his job because he does not like his bosses or his co-workers. One of his co-workers gets him involved in a scandal at work that he does know about. The scandal leads to him being assaulted and fired. When the person arrives home, his wife puts him out of the house. The poem speaks about the contemporary culture of work violence and personal misfortune. Your poem can be just as good if you practice. Let move on to the next step. With formulation complete, your next step is drafting. Actually, sit down and not just in front of a desk in your room. Go out and enjoy the great outdoors and learn to observe your environment. This too will help you come up with ideas when you begin to draft your poem. Next, go to places where people dwell. Observe their movements, but do not annoy or irritate anyone. After all, a person might get suspicious about someone constantly staring at them. Next, when you get some free time after your observations, write down what you remember. From these fleeting thoughts and words, your poem will take shape. Let’s look at a poem written by a teen who observed his third period, gym class. A sea of arms and legs Mixed with the squeaks and dregs Jumping, running, walking left and right Grabbing, dragging, watch those hussies fight Name calling, the “b” word and the “s” word, ouch! Stubby feet, drooping chins and teary eyes, and a puffy pouch A cheerleader, a nerd, a socialite supreme A mixture of student bodies thrown in between A coach, a whistle, a scream, and a halt! The silence of a multitude tight as a fault The bell rings twice, the silence is broken The clatter is go, the air is choking The perfume, the smiles, the slams of the lockers The chalk, the seats moving, and the day, a shocker This poem is about teenage girls in high school acting out one of their daily routines at gym class, at the lockers, in their regular classes. The cat fights, the name calling, and the questionable language is all of the new trends of today’s teenagers. But, if you read more and do research, you might find that the situation with today’s teenage girls in high school is no different than ten years ago or even twenty years ago. But, of course this is only speculation. Your job is to perfect each step. Now this poem is good, but it certainly could be better. Work on making your poem the best it can be by telling an accurate story using sound and valid facts, not opinion or speculation. Remember, your poem is only as good as the work you put in to make it good. Your last step is publishing. Here you have followed the other steps: self evaluation, free writing, observing, and drafting. In this step, you want to give your poem one last review to see if errors in punctuation, sentence logic, pronouns, verbs, etc exist. If they do, make the corrections. Use one of your writing reference guides or a pocket grammar handbook if you have them. If you do not, go to the library and use one of theirs. Either way, help yourself fix those grammatical errors. If you are not comfortable performing corrections on your poem yourself, go to a professional tutor instead. If all of the errors have been eliminated, then either re-write or print out a final copy of your poem. It you have followed the steps that were given to you, then your poem should turn out like this: The rat race begins with a squeal and a scat The escape from the IRS, the cat A slip through the portal leads to freedom A mountain of cheese is at the end of this kingdom Before you can eat, you must eliminate the competition Show them your wrath as you get their attention Claw, scratch, pull, and bite Form financial allies and unite Corner the markets with your product alone Form monopolies and through administrators a bone Once you have set a trap for the hunters and the haters Laugh at them as they become busboys and waiters Turn the conflict over sex into a conflict over money Tantalize the masses with milk and honey When time comes to react, you are ready to pounce Now you can eat your cheese by the ounce Now you can live happily with wine and song Your business is booming and your blessings are long Good luck writing your cultural poem. I am sure that it will turn out fine. Just remember: practice makes perfect!