She’s been called America’s Hans Christian Andersen, but why not call her America’s Jane Yolen?! I’m happy to welcome today’s guest poetry poster, Jane Yolen!
 

Five Tips On Writing A Poem

1. Look at the world through metaphor,
seeing one tree in terms of another.
2. Let two words bump up against another
Or seesaw on a single line.
3. Tell the truth inside out
Or on the slant.
4. Remember that grammar can be a good friend
And a mean neighbor.
5. Let the poem rhyme in the heart,
Though not always on the page.
 
©1999  Jane Yolen
 

How to Write A Poem: A Bite-Size Sonnet

Insight.
Now.
Write—
How?
Butt.
Chair.
What?
Where?
 
Heart
Pains.
Art
Gains.
Bleed.
Read.
 
© 2010 by Jane Yolen
 
A Poem Is
 
Words
Running
down
the
page,
in black script
sneakers.
 
Words
nudging/one/another
like bumper cars
at a fair.
 
Words
humming,
thrumming,
drumming,
strumming,
an orchestra
of sounds,
 
Words that take
a thought
a wish,
a sentiment,
a pryer,
and then suck out
all the hot air.
 
A poem is.
 
©2008 by Jane Yolen