Hi poets and poetry lovers,
This week, let's take a nostalgic journey back to where it all began: our very first poems. Whether it was a school assignment, a heartfelt expression, or a spontaneous creation, our first poems mark the starting point of our poetic journeys.
What was your first poem about, and what inspired you to write it? How do you feel when you look back at it now? Have your themes, style, and voice changed significantly since then?
Share your first poems, the stories behind them, and how your poetry has evolved over time. Let's celebrate our beginnings and appreciate the growth and progress we've made as poets.
Hi everyone,
This is such a wonderful topic! My first poem was actually inspired by a nature walk I took with my dad when I was younger. I was completely captivated by the beauty of the trees, the rustling leaves, and the peacefulness of the forest. It was a simple poem, describing the sights and sounds of that walk, but it was the first time I felt the urge to put my feelings into words.
Looking back, that poem was definitely rough around the edges, but it still holds a special place in my heart. Over time, my themes have evolved to explore deeper emotions and more complex ideas, but nature continues to be a strong inspiration in my work. My style has also shifted from very straightforward descriptions to a more lyrical and reflective approach.
It’s amazing to see how much we all grow and change as poets. I’d love to hear about everyone else’s first poems and how your writing has evolved over the years!
Best, MariaL
The first poem I ever wrote was (most likely) a haiku for school when I was in second grade. My mother, actually, was visiting our class to teach us about haiku. Technically, the first poem I wrote in my head was a wordku about I think polar bears? that morning (I never wrote it down and have little memory of it or the haiku I wrote later that day I think about autumn).
During my 4th grade poetry unit, I wrote a poem outside school about a car alarm keeping me awake, so that was the first I wrote not for school.
The first poem I wrote when I was getting serious about poetry was an awkward iambic poem about friendship being my only home, and it used quotes from poems I had read like sources in a research paper. LOL. My poems from that stage of my writing were all awkward, humorously bad poems with forced rhyme and forced meter and which often said nothing. Most of the poems I wrote that first year are absolute trash but have sentimental value to me, so I can't bring myself to throw them out and instead have a ''doggerel pile'' sitting on my shelf.😆
😊Thank you.
I wish I could see my first poem again, for old time's sake. Mine was around the age of 17-18 and written for my first serious girlfriend. That was the time I felt an electricity I had never felt before the moment the pen touched page. I know it sounds so stupid, but it really felt like the scene when HP gets his wand.
I didn't write again for another 2-4 years after and then never looked back since.
I can not remember my first poem, but the earliest I remember was in high school where I worte a poem about my grandfather and I playing chess using a woven simile of a battlefield and the two kings armies. I will one day rewrite it as it was lost to time when all my old books were thrown out by a third party.
So I have this memory of writing in high school some dreary derivative verse I was wise not to make public. I buried myself in writing non -fiction. If you had said to me at 35 you will write poetry when you're 65 I would have scoffed at the thought.
My first poem was called candletime. I have a copy and will post it later. How it came about, I had become secretary of a group and was networking with this local poetry group now defunct. I decided they needed me to come along and pay to help cover the cost of the room. Sitting with them and listening to others writing poetry triggered my own. The poem was from a prompt 'candle', that was good to remember because I struggle to write to prompts. (My muse is wild and will only inspire coherency with what she wants to express. My evolution has been to be self reflective on controlling sounds across a line and maintaining the meaning.
Wow! That's asking a lot... II was really young, like 5-6. think it may have had something to do with knights. I was impressed after reading Ivanhoe. NO recollection of the words.
I remember writing a poem for a girl when I was nine-years old. Again, I don't remember it all, but it was something like this... Debbie’s hair is fire red,
I watch her play, my face all red.
She laughs out loud,
I hide in a cloud.
Today I hold, in my hand,
A chocolate bar, a tiny grand.
I walk up slow, my heart beats fast,
“Debbie, this is for you,” at last.
She gave a kiss on my cheek My stomach got all weak.
She smiles at me, my day is made.
Maybe tomorrow, I won’t be so afraid.