If you’re thinking about requesting a personalised poem for yourself or a loved one but aren’t sure what exactly you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right page.
Whether you’re after a funny anecdote to tell at a friend’s wedding, a leaving gift for a beloved teacher or a heartfelt tribute to trigger the waterworks on Mother’s Day, Play The Poet can help to bring your poetry visions to life. Here’s how you can get started.
YOUR POEM, YOUR WAY
To get the most out of your poem and make it feel like you, it’s important to focus on the small details as well as the bigger picture. When filling out your request form, try to focus on the classic five W’s (who, what, when, where and why) and incorporate information about some (or all) of these into your request.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to prompt your poetic mind and help fill out your request:
WHO
- Who is the poem for?
- Who will be involved in the poem?
- Who is going to listen to the poem?
WHAT
- If the poem is going to be based on an anecdote, what happens in your story?
- What do you hope will be the recipient’s reaction? What might be the recipient’s reaction?
- What will your storyteller be able to see around them during the poem? What colours, sensations and smells are there?
WHEN
- Will your poem have features of specific time periods in history?
- Will the story in your poem take place over a matter of minutes, days, years?
- If the poem is going to be based on an anecdote, when did the story take place?
WHERE
- Where will the storyteller be? Will there be a storyteller at all?
- How will the landscape look around the storyteller? How will it feel?
- If the poem is going to be based on an anecdote, where did the story take place?
WHY
- Why do you want to capture this story or subject in a poem?
- Why is the story happening in the first place?
- If your poem is going to be based on emotion, why are you / the storyteller feeling this way?
Play The Poet 