Free Verse Poems – List Poem
A free verse poem is a poem that is free of a set rhythm and rhyme. Four types of free verse poems are list poem, poem of address, persona poem, and narrative poem.
Don’t think about writing a poem. Just sit back and let your mind take off. Writing a good list poem takes more effort than simply jotting down a list of your favorite movies, books, or whatever.
Example:
Things That Go Away
& Come Back Again
by Anne Waldman
Thoughts
Airplanes
Boats
Trains
People
Dreams
Animals
Songs
Husbands
Boomerangs
Lightning
The sun, the moon, the stars
Bad weather
The seasons
Soldiers
Health
Depression
Joy
Laundry
Not all list poems have one-word lines. Most list poems describe or name things and feelings. Include detail in your poems. Walt Whitman was well known for his list poems. Here’s an example:
I Hear America Singing
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
List poems always have one thing in common. They all describe or name things. Waldman names things and feelings. Whitman describes the “songs” of Americans. It is rich details that make a poem, list poem or otherwise, come alive.
TRY THIS. . . One type of list poem is a history poem, which details a part of the writer’s life. If you have moved a lot, you might consider writing a history of the houses you’ve lived in or the schools you have attended.
A History of the Faulty Shoes
Tiny white lacy slippers
that I kicked off when I was a baby
Sweet little pink jellies
that I wore on the swing set and broke the strap
Soft leather moccasins
that had beads that fell off
Bright pink sneakers
that were hard to lace up
Little purple Velcro tennis shoes
that had a hole in the heel
Shiny black party shoes
that got scratched on the sidewalk
White leather sandals
that got wet in the sprinkler and shrank
Green All-Stars
that rubbed at the toe
Black Mary-Janes
that I still wear today
But who knows?
Amanda Granum
Another type of list poem you can write is the “how-to” poem.
How to Get out of Homework
I’m feeling sick
Look at what the dog’s doing
Five more minutes
That’s a beautiful necklace
Oh, just a little longer
But, I just reached dark castle and I can’t stop now
There’s a bomb in my bedroom
There’s a killer outside
The baby’s sick
But this book is stretching my mind in ways homework can’t
I’m feeling sleepy
I might wake the baby
I just heard a gunshot
Was that the phone?
After dinner?
The cat’s outside
So is the dog
I’m hungry
I don’t feel like it
Jared Conrad-Bradshaw
A basic skill that good poets must master is word choice. The poet’s job is to find the best words for each line of the poem that he/she is working on. Rarely will a poet settle for the first words that hit the page. It might mean trying different words and listening to how they affect the poem. Or, it might mean just letting the right word come to you while the poem sits in your folder. So, don’t settle for a good word when a little work and thought will give you the right word