The How To Poem

So I really enjoyed writing How-To poems. I wrote mine on optical illusions. When I was little, I used to have optical illusion books,(the kind where the pages were filled up with little dots, and an image was supposed to pop out in 3D) and neither my parents nor siblings could understand how-to see them. I remember the trick was to cross your eyes a little and stare at the page, but with your eyes unfocused. They just couldn't get it no matter how I tried to explain it. For some reason writing How-to poems reminded me of that, so I went with it. (I am aware that other normal people probably have no problem seeing optical illusions)

Anyway, once I was at the last stanza, and two lines before the ending, it hit me. This poem could be about open mindedness. The word "Slow" was repeated a few times, and that indicates patience. When I revised it, I tried to play up this element by working with pace.

Taking it a step farther, I then re-read the poem with its open mindedness theme in mind, and made some other connections. Symbolically, the term optical illusion really conveys a lot of meaning to the topic of being open minded. Also, having to force your eyes to stretch in a direction that feels uncomfortable or "abnormal" (Crossing them or un-focusing them) connects to the topic well too. Lastly, the fact that it is a how-to poem really brings about some meaning and makes a statement about those who are less open minded or who try to be more open minded.

It was cool to make these types of connections after writing the majority of the poem. I was really happy with the outcome, so that makes me a big fan of How-to poems. If anything they are a great starting point to generate ideas get really concrete detail from the start.

-Rachel