How to write interesting poems

My fiancé Corey and I were driving home from the post office yesterday when he said something that stuck with me: “There’s nothing worse than a boring conversation.”

One of my biggest fears in life is becoming boring. It keeps me up at night, and I’m dead serious. The opposite of boring is interesting—to arouse curiosity—and I can think of exactly nothing more exciting than doing just that. (It’s also my favourite compliment!)

Later that night, after our Monday generative writing session in Gather, I saw an Instagram reel that was absolutely meant to grace my feed. And it turned into this exact Substack idea.

Fashion blogger Chelsea as of late, in a Reel showcasing her stunning outfits, said, “If an outfit isn’t interesting by colour, it must be interesting by shape, and if it’s not interesting by shape, it must be interesting by texture, and if it’s not interesting by texture, it must be interesting by colour.”

Basically, find a way to NOT have a boring outfit, she urges us.

And, of course, I thought about poetry.

I like my poems interesante. I want to feel awakened, stirred, and as if perhaps I have experienced something new for the first time. I want a poem to seduce me, tempt me, throw me into purgatory for three minutes.

And I suspect you maybe do too?? I hope so.

Let’s find ways to NOT have a boring poem, eh? I’ll show you how.

How to write interesting poems—5 ways

If a poem isn’t interesting by form, it must be interesting by rhythm, and if it’s not interesting by rhythm, it must be interesting by sound. If it’s not interesting by sound, it must be interesting by mood, and if it’s not interesting by mood, it must be interesting by metaphor. If it’s interesting by metpahor, it must be interesting by form.

1. Interesting by form

Form is the structure of a poem. Think the lines, stanzas, and meter. (If we are referring to a poem as a sonnet, that is its form.)

One of the best ways to experiment with form is to write unconventional forms of poetry. You can google “unconventional poetry forms,” and you’ll have many ideas right off the bat. My favourite “intro to form” is a bantu couplet. I taught this form in Gather last year and many poets in our Community really enjoyed it as well.

Bantu couplets are two lines that are a call and response but not necessarily logically connected.

Here is an excerpt from my poem “The Circle of Life.”

My father babytalks when he’s drunk.

A diseased wolf is left behind.

A round noose waits above a tree.

Her cervix opens in due time.

You can combine the couplets into a poem, or leave them on their own.

2. Interesting by rhythm

Even if you don’t write in traditional meter, your poems can still feel interesting through their rhythm. This is where your line breaks can create natural stresses and pause.

Example: Notice how the line breaks create a choppy, staggered cadence in my poem “How to write a sympathy card.” The poems almost reads as if it were crying and trying to catch its breath, perfectly matched to the context of the poem.

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