How to Make Your Poetry More Accessible to Readers

Do you write poetry? Do readers find your work easy to read and understand? In other words, do you write accessible poetry? To begin, let’s make the basic assumption, that most poets wish to be understood. (If you intentionally write poetry that is meant to be deep, obscure, and filled with enough symbolism to render it incomprehensible, then this post is not for you.) Allow me to offer some suggestions.

What is Accessible Poetry?

Before we start, let’s define accessible poetry. Although some see this as a negative descriptor, I believe it to be the best quality a poem can possess. In my mind, inaccessible is the negative. Why write something that only you will ever truly understand? A poem that requires an explanation is no better than a joke that no one understands until you explain it. In the anthology 180 more, Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, the former Poet Laureate of the United States, Billy Collins introduces the book with a wonderful discussion of accessible poetry.

According to Collins, although the term “accessible poetry” is generally defined as “poetry that can be readily understood,” he prefers to think of it as poetry that “has a clear entrance, a front door through which the reader may pass into the body of the poem.” Once inside, the reader may find the poem deep and meaningful or not, but either way, they have hopefully found a foothold. I believe that reading poetry should be a pleasant experience, and I generally find confusion and lack of understanding to be rather unpleasant.

Vocabulary

So, how do we write accessible poems? First of all, I would suggest using clear and concise vocabulary. The internet is full of clever memes about using big words in an effort to look smart. I love a quote I found recently online, attributed to Sierra Bailey, “Writing isn’t about using big words to impress. It’s about using simple words in an impressive way.” To put it another way, if I have to stop and find a dictionary in the middle of your poem, I’m probably not impressed (or having a pleasant experience.) Truthfully, I won’t stop and look up words, I’ll just stop reading your poem.

Content

Secondly, stick to universal themes. There may be a million poems about love, but that’s because people can relate. Nature poems are popular, because people read them. Narrative poems that tell interesting stories work, because people are drawn to good storytelling. On the other hand, poems about unfamiliar or unusual topics may be hard for many readers to follow. That is not to say that they are inaccessible, but they may appeal to only a very small audience. I like to write about feelings we have all experienced – anger, frustration, love, and joy. I also like to write about people.

A Pleasing Sound

Finally, write poems that sound interesting. (Honestly, this doesn’t make your poems more accessible, it just makes them better all around.) Regardless of their structure, rhyme, rhythm, or length, poems should have a somewhat musical quality. When read aloud, they should resonate with the reader. Just my opinion, but good poems always have a pleasing sound!

Strive for the right combination of words (vocabulary), content (theme), and sound that will intrigue the reader and put a smile on his face. Or bring a tear to her eye. Whatever your intent, make them feel something! If they do, they might just come back for more.