Take a slice of lemon and taste it. If it had a sound, what sound would it be? Perhaps someone dragging their fingers down a chalkboard, or an old fashioned alarm clock ringing. If the taste were a feeling what would it be? Maybe an electric shock, or the prick of a thousand needles against your skin. If the taste had a shape, what would the shape be? A zigzag, or possibly a triangle.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, it can be difficult to begin writing a poem, especially if you think too much about the end result of your writing, or reach for an idea but nothing comes. Writing using the senses is a great way of making a start, and it can also open your mind to unexpected ideas. Here are 4 activities that will help you write a poem using your senses.<\/p>\n
Pass the dice<\/b><\/p>\n
You have two minutes to come up with as many ways of saying \u2018Pass the Dice\u2019 as you can think of. You will probably come up with very different ways of making this request. You can then ask yourself who might say \u201cWould you be so kind as to pass me the dice?\u201d or \u201cGimme the shakers\u201d, or where you might hear \u201cTombstones, boy\u201d, or \u201cHand over those Gaming Cubes.\u201d Would the speaker be an old person, a younger person, a viking, or even an alien?<\/p>\n
Sound chart<\/b><\/p>\n
Take three or four poems and look through them for words that seem hard, soft, smooth, warm, cold, crunchy, billowy, sharp, angular, gravelly, and fluffy. You can add any other categories you can think of! Remember to focus on how the words sound and not what they mean. You might feel, for example, that hit <\/i>is a hard sound, and rumble <\/i>is soft, while gyre <\/i>(a word from Lewis Carol\u2019s famous Jabberwocky<\/i><\/a>) is cold and\/or smooth. If you want to go a step further, you can draw the word and give it a shape, texture, or colour.<\/p>\n Observation game<\/b><\/p>\n Engage your senses through observation. There are different ways of doing this. You can either take a random object from your desk and describe what it looks or feels like, or perhaps explore an unknown object with your eyes closed. Next, ask yourself some questions that mix the senses. For example, what colour is this texture? What does this texture smell like? What sound does this texture make? To go even further, you can create some abstract ideas by asking questions like what memory does this texture have? What mood does it have? What emotion does it have?<\/p>\n Colour response<\/b><\/p>\n