Acrostic Poetry 2013

Acrostic poetry is a variation of poetry where the poet uses the first letter, syllable, or word of each line to create a "double poem:" one that reads line by line horizontally (normally), and one that reads down, vertically.  It's interesting in that like other structured forms of poetry, it helps to alleviates the boredom of free/blank verse.

When writing the acrostic poem, start with the acrostic part-- come up with something perhaps profound,  or maybe romantic, and write it vertically down the left side of the page. Below, I came up with the phrase: "In a million stars the light is not as bright as the light in your eyes," then wrote it vertically down the page, like so:

In

A

Million

Stars

The

Light

Is

Not

As

Bright

As

The

Light

In

Your

Eyes

Next, figure out how much structure (Do not turn your nose up at structure!  Every "real" poem has it, and frankly, if you write enough poetry, structure will alleviate the tedium of free/blank verse.) you want in the main body of your poem.  For example, how many feet do you want, what type of meter (e.g.: iambic), rhyme scheme, etc.  In the below example, there really is no specific structure beyond the acrostic-- not because I have disdain for structure, but because there is a second acrostic at the end of each line:  "all the gold in the world is not as valuable as one lock of your hair."

So, the working page looks like this:

In                                                  all

A                                                  the

Million                                        gold

Stars                                               in

The                                                the

Light                                          world     

Is                                                     is

Not                                                not

As                                                    as

Bright                                     valuable

As                                                    as

The                                                one

Light                                             lock

In                                                     of

Your                                             your

Eyes                                               hair

Lastly, fill in the middle.  I got this:

In a way, there's all

A man could say, the

Million things, as much as gold,

Stars, drops of water in

The ocean, as much as the

Light of the sun, the world

Is a better place, my life is

Not what it was, is not

As fragile. But as

Bright and as valuable

As life has become, even as

The heart beats-- one

Light melts the lock

In the depths of my soul-- of

Your faith I speak... the light in your

Eyes... the sweep of your hair.

The poem itself is ok, but it's the acrostic work that makes the engine go!

When you are finished, the poem has to be read three separate times, one for each element.  When you show yours to someone, make sure to "unwrap" your work layer by layer, allowing your reader to be completely amazed by each element of your poem!

© Ray Cattie