Making a Poem Memorable [Dorianne Laux]

All Levels | What makes a poem memorable? Dave Smith says it’s “… a confident use of language which releases feeling and keeps releasing it with repeated readings.” Naomi Shihab Nye says for her it is, “Love and care for elemental details… and a way of ending that leaves a new resonance or a lit spark in the reader or listener’s mind.” We will take a close look at a variety of dazzling poems written by contemporary poets and seek to understand what makes them memorable. Then, we will practice imitation as a striving toward writing our own unforgettable poems.