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Writing a Free-Verse Poem
The following guidelines will help you write a free-verse poem. Free-verse poetry does not follow a specific form, or pattern, and it usually does not rhyme.
Prewriting Planning Your Poem
Choose a Subject 🟪 Write your poem about a subject that truly interests you: a special experience, a close friend, a favorite animal, a strong feeling, and so on.
Gather Your Thoughts 🟪 Freewriting about your subject can be a good way to begin. Here, a student freewrites about an important day.
My new town in Indiana had a dog park, so I took my old beagle, Pepper. I was nervous. He didn’t know any of the dogs. I didn’t know anyone since moving from Tucson. At first I sat on the bench and kept Pepper on his leash, but the other dogs were running free. Pepper whined. I let him go. He ran right up to a big shepherd. I wondered if he’d get eaten. “That’s Willard,” said the shepherd’s owner as she sat beside me. “Looks like they’ll be friends. I’m Ainslee, by the way.”
My new town in Indiana had a dog park, so I took my old beagle, Pepper. I was nervous. He didn’t know any of the dogs. I didn’t know anyone since moving from Tucson. At first I sat on the bench and kept Pepper on his leash, but the other dogs were running free. Pepper whined. I let him go. He ran right up to a big shepherd. I wondered if he’d get eaten. “That’s Willard,” said the shepherd’s owner as she sat beside me. “Looks like they’ll be friends. I’m Ainslee, by the way.”