Shape Poems

1What is a shape poem?

In a shape poem, the lines are written so that they make the shape of the thing the poem is about. A poem about a bird looks like a bird. A poem about a tree looks like a tree.

Shape poems are also called concrete poems.

2A shape poem: The Tree

Imagine these lines written in the shape of a tree, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom like a trunk:

• Green leaves dancing in the warm sunlight,
• birds build their nests up high,
• monkeys swing,
• I stand
• tall
• and
• strong

3How to write a shape poem

• 1. Choose a thing from nature: the sun, the moon, a fish, a mountain, a flower.
• 2. Draw its outline lightly with a pencil.
• 3. Write words and phrases about it: what it looks like, what it does, how it makes you feel.
• 4. Write your lines along the outline or inside the shape.
• 5. Rub out the pencil outline. Your words now make the shape!

Moon words: silver, round, bright, night, smiling, lantern, clouds, glide.

4A picture of shape poems

With your group, choose a topic like "A Pond", "The Night Sky" or "A Nature Park". Each friend writes one shape poem: a fish, a frog, a star, the moon, a tree. Put them together on one big sheet to make a picture, and display it in class.