Parts of Speech
“To be or not to be?”
is never a question for
Verbs
eat, pray, love
is only a fraction of her true work
She protests
against structural
Prepositions
inside, within, close to
by not fitting a mold or checking a box
Equipping herself with
immaculate armors of
Adverbs
desperately, quickly
for time is a matter of essence
When the opposition is given power
through their association as collective
Nouns
community, council, jury
a shift in mindset won’t be easy
She constructs a case to prove, beyond a
reasonable doubt, by relying on subordinating
Conjunctions
because, since, until
these rights are unalienable and non-negotiable
Knowing that her ideas can be described as
“d” all of the above (or, more accurately “below”)
Adjectives
necessary, honorable, essential
Are reminders of why she continues fighting
Despite constant interruptions by
the ignorant, misinformed, or apathetic
Interjections
sigh, uhh, uhg
she articulates the past to shape the future
And deconstructs dichotomies of republicans
versus democrats by emphasizing that we are all
Pronouns
me, you, us
we are reminded of humanity through her actions
Reflection
As a teacher, I actually enjoy introducing the eight parts of speech because my approach connects to vocabulary and becomes the blueprint when identifying the meaning of unknown words. Therefore, I conceptualized the structure and format of the poem before knowing the exact message or content.
Each stanza was going to focus on one part of speech followed by a list of two or three examples. From there, I also wanted to personify one of the parts of speech. Determined to bring one to life, I felt that ‘verbs’ naturally segued into an active character.
Next, I developed a female protagonist, Verbs, who was working to challenge prepositions that were constructed by collective nouns. I also visualized the ending to focus on how we are all pronouns. With those in mind, I filled in the rest of the parts of speech and constantly reorganized and revised the wording and structure.
Prompt
This was a fun poem to create because I was passionate about the topic and vision. Having a finite amount of topics and stanzas provided me with structure. My challenge for you is to anchor a group of things that have some sort of connection–three branches of government, four horsemen, five stages of grief, five food groups, seven days in a week, seven deadly sins. If possible, personify one of those categories and have that character encounter (or embody) a misunderstanding, unlikely hero, victim turned vigilante, or some other concept. For example, imagine the five food groups as siblings while highlighting the insecurity of your main character (one of the categories).