"How to" Poem

I found this exercise one of the easy and more free flowing exercises we have done in class; which is to say that I enjoyed it. When I was sitting there trying to think of something I knew well enough to describe I sort of drew a blank at first. Like the “bragging” exercise, it’s hard to find something that I know well enough to tell people that I know it well; if that makes any sense. After a few minutes of racking me brain for something I do well I came to “songwriting” While I may not be good at it, I realize that I do know the popular format and basics of songwriting. Below is the rough draft of my “how to” poem.


Writing a Song
Start with a subject
the subject could be a feeling or observation
Recall a specific moment
when the subject’s intensity is at its greatest
Write it down like a Jesus parable
concise.
The fewer the words
demonstrate a better understanding of the material
The story is told in verse
The moral is told in chorus
Digress at the end
with a prelude to another planet
Bringing it back with the chorus
shows the listener you are serious
Your song is a journey
like being John Malkovich
it puts another in your place
A common tactic of escaping life
For 3 to 5 minutes.

Like I said, I really enjoyed this exercise and once I found a topic, it flowed like the Nile. Again, this copy is just a rough draft but I figured since I wasn’t going to workshop it I might as well post it here. The hardest part about writing a “how to” poem for me isn’t the fact that I know how to do something, its describing it to make sense to someone else who has never done it. For example, have you ever tried to describe a pie to someone that has never seen a pie before, it comes out just awkward. The trick is that you have to use descriptions that other people have felt of heard before. That is why I threw in the “Being John Malkovich” movie reference.

Have a nice day,

Jay
Jaywoodward.com