For this poem, begin with a freewrite. Freewriting means just what it says: writing freely, without regard to spelling, grammar, paragraphing, or whether it makes any sense. For ten minutes, just write freely, in prose, whatever enters your mind. Your blog would be a great place to do this.

Let your thoughts wander, and follow the ones you like. Pick the others up later if you like. Relax. Loosen the grip on your pen, enjoy letting your ink flow, shaping your letters, seeing your thoughts and feelings take shape on the page. Or, turn off your computer monitor so you can't see (and judge) your writing. When your mind slows, slow your writing speed. When thoughts come faster, pick up your tempo. Try getting your mind and fingers to work at the same speed, or let one race ahead and pull the other along.

Set your freewrite aside for at least a day; then come back and read it again. If you wrote at the computer, print a hard copy to mark up. Read the freewrite aloud. Note the rhythms and phrasing, the ebb and flow of images, thoughts and emotions.

What parts are essential? Striking? Vivid? What parts seem repetitious? Distracting? Strike out anything you want to get rid of and make a new draft.

Mark this new draft for stanzas and line breaks. Mark a double slash (//) for a stanza break or a single slash (/) for a line break. Then make a fresh draft using the stanza and line breaks you've marked out.

Read this aloud, again, noting the rhythms and phrasing, the ebb and flow of images, thoughts and emotions.

Now write out yet another draft to make the written poem suggest spoken sounds and rhythms as closely as possible. Share this with a partner or in a group. To do this online, just make your blog entry public.