With National Checklist Day just around the corner, it’s time to celebrate our shared love of lists and our passion for list-making! Whether we’re jotting down to-do’s, grocery items, or life goals, lists help us organize, reflect, and prioritize. But lists aren’t just productivity tools; they’re also an art form. You will see what I am talking about in today’s Poetic Sundays!

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Poetic Sundays: The List Poem

While the list poem is as old as poetry itself, or so it seems, it leads me to wonder and guess that our ancestors loved making lists as much as we do today! Hence the list poem — kind of a poetic tribute to cataloging life’s minutiae in a way that’s both structured and free.

So What is the List Poem?

Well, the list poem is just what it says it is: a poem that lists things, kind of like a catalog. Which is why it is also called a catalog poem. In other words, a list poem is a poem crafted as a list (or maybe a list crafted poetically!).

Writing one is as simple as choosing a theme (like favorite memories or daily delights) and letting each line add to the narrative. The poem unfolds as a sequence of related (or intriguingly unrelated!) items, capturing a moment, feeling, or even the essence of a collection. Whether describing things, actions, people, or places, each line contributes to a shared narrative or thematic point.

The List Poem’s Characteristics

So the list poem’s elements are that it is:

• Theme-based: Focuses on a single topic or idea, whether that’s big concepts like love or small delights like morning rituals.
• Rhyme optional: Can have a rhyme scheme, or be entirely free verse—it’s up to you!
• Meter optional: No meter required, giving flexibility to your word choices and flow.
• A List of Things!: Each line represents a distinct part of the list but contributes to the poem’s overall theme. These items can be single words, phrases, or even sentences. Of course, the items can run across lines, and also into each other

Other points to consider:

• It’s especially fun if you choose a theme that allows for ups and downs, for twists and turns, making the poem feel like a journey through the list
• There’s no required line count for list poems, it’s as long as the list needs to be. Let it unfold naturally—because with list poems, it’s all about finding the poetry in the list’s details
• Can be considered to have three main parts: an introduction (to the list), the list itself, and then a conclusion/an ending (most often with a twist!). Note that the introduction and the conclusion can be just a word or a line long or more (as you wish) or you can make them part of the list itself.
  

Tips to Write a List Poem (Using Shel Silverstein’s “Sick” as an example)

1. First, pick your theme and think of a title.
   • Silverstein’s title – Sick; and the theme as you can see when you read the poem – excuses
2. Next, an introductory line, word, or stanza (or none at all), but adding one lets you build it up! Or you can work on the introduction once you have your list ready (it might help you come up with the right one)
   • In ‘Sick,’ the introduction is brilliant! You can see what is coming, right?
     • “I cannot go to school today,” / Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
3. Then, list the items that fit your chosen theme. Remember that you need to add something more to that list to make it poetic, including
   • line order: place items to build tension or surprise or delight or emotion or anything else (as applicable)
   • attempt to convey why these items matter? or the list itself?
   • hint at the connection/the theme or make it more obvious. Add a line or word to comment on the same
   • have the lines rhyme or not
   • you can choose to just include the item as a single word (or phrase as needed) or add more to the item to describe/expand on it with a comment.
   • Looking at Silverstein’s poem, you will see that the list includes a whole bunch of fun excuses about why little Peggy cannot, simply cannot, go to school, from “the measles and the mumps,
     … and purple bumps.” to “toes that are numb, and a slivered thumb“!!
4. Lastly, the conclusion, the ‘the end’ of the poem. Surprise the reader with it. Add a clever twist, pack a punch into it, make it memorable!
   • Here is where Silverstein shines! His last lines are so very reminiscent of many little Peggys everywhere with “What’s that? What’s that you say? / You say today is. . .Saturday? / G’bye, I’m going out to play!“
5. Remember, make sure you end the list before you exhaust yourself or your reader!! I am at fault for doing the latter a few times!

More to the List and List Ideas

You can make a list of lists if you wish, use the list to tell a story, explain things, and so much more. The list of ways to write a list poem is endless! But here are some list ideas to help you get a start:

From the obvious and simple:

• Your favorite things/things you love
• Things you hate
• Your dream destinations
• What you would do if you had a million, well, a billion dollars
• Reasons why you ….
• Things you want to do – now/today/this weekend/this year
• Your favorite foods
• Times you made yourself proud/disappointed yourself
• Your wacky habits (or that of your friends or family!)
• A shopping list
• Your to-do list
• Stuff in your junk drawer

to the offbeat, quirky ones

• Things left in my pocket (or in my case, my kids’ pockets that ends up in the dryer!): A list of odd, forgotten items that paint a picture of a day’s adventures or a lifetime of habits.
• What is in my purse?: While I certainly am afraid to find out what is actually in my purse today, I know this will make a good list poem!
• Stray thoughts that occurred in the middle of the night or in the shower: A list of random thoughts or musings that come to mind in the quiet hour or in the shower or while driving. And I have many such thoughts!
• The regrets my houseplants might have: Given my “green” thumb, I am guessing my houseplants will have many stories to share, if they could. Maybe something like, “too much sunbathing,” “where is my drink?,” and “atrocious colors
• Things that seem to happen to me every Tuesday: Maybe you have noticed some weird connections between happenings and Tuesdays – just for you. (or any other day/time)
• Questions only the ocean can answer, or the moon asks the stars
• Words that never seem to fit in poems: A collection of words or phrases that almost made it into other poems, each with its own story.
• What makes for a perfect day?

Different Types of List Poems

• Bio Poem
• Definition Poem
• Riddles
• And many other lists!

My List Attempt

My initial plan was to write a list poem of poetic forms I featured here before but then the stars won out!

Dear Stars, Are You Messing with Me?
The Sunday paper arrived at last,
And while the fam fought for the comics, quick and fast.
I grabbed the horoscopes page;
Gotta check ’em, at my age!
This week’s fortunes seemed a tad absurd—
Who wrote these, a kid or a bird?!

I checked the crab first—my sign, you know,
And there it read: “The spoon will steal your show.”
Before I could grasp the absurdity of this decree
I wondered if it would be the soup spoon or the tea!
Then I moved on to the one for my spouse
Oh my, “you will find a mongoose in your house”
My first thought, hope that doesn’t come true
For my spouse’s house is my own too!

Then on to check the sign for my first-born’s fate:
It said, “That pen you lost? Coming home late.”
Led me to wondering which pen would come back
For there were a zillion he misplaced, red, blue, & black.
Went on to read the prediction for my youngest, my sweetie!
“Watch out! You may dream in only Disney.”
I found myself smiling secretly
For she outgrew that only recently!

I thought for a second if I should look at the rest—
You know, for more family and friends, just as a jest.
But I closed that page with a shake of my head;
Enough cosmic chaos! I’ll stick to comics instead!
~ Vidya @ LadyInReadWrites

Recently

On My Blog And the Homefront

One whole week of posting(almost)

• The Magic of Diwali: A Journey Through the Senses
• 13 Quick Tips to Get Your Home Diwali Ready
• Pumpkins and Diyas: Celebrating Wonderful Festivals Together
• How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time
• Wondrous Creativity: Artists, Puzzles, and the Timeless Magic of ‘Back to the Future’
• Sunday Scribblings #199: Wonderful Poems About Books and Reading

Upcoming

On My Blog and On the Homefront

On the homefront, like I mentioned in a couple of previous posts, will be working to get my home Diwali-ready! As for the blog, a bit of this and some of that.

Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week include: Anne Perry, Ayad Akhtar on Oct 28th; Lee Child on the 29th of Oct; Ezra Pound on Oct 30th; John Keats on Oct 31; Stephen Crane on the 1st of Nov
• October 31st is Books For Treats Day and National Knock Knock Joke Day too apparently!
• November is a month for lots of literary celebrations!! It is Family Stories Month, National Life Writing Month, National Family Literacy Month, and of course NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month!
• It is also National Authors Day and National Family Literacy Day on Nov 1st as well as Fountain Pen Day
• The 3rd is Cliche Day
  

Foodie Celebrations

• It is National Chocolate Day on the 28th of October.
• While the 29th is National Oatmeal Day
• And the 30th observes National Candy Corn Day
• October 31st is National Caramel Apple Day
• November 1st is National Calzone Day, National Cinnamon Day, and World Vegan Day
• National Deviled Egg Day is on the 2nd of November
• Nov 3rd is National Sandwich Day

Note: for any excess Halloween candy that you have no idea what to do with, check out Operation Gratitude or Treats for Troops (this is for the US but I am sure there are similar efforts in other countries too)

Other Celebrations and Observations

• The 28th is Plush Animal Lover’s Day and International Animation Day 
• It is International Internet Day on the 29th of October.
• Followed by National Checklist Day on the 30th
• October 31st is of course celebrated across various nations as Halloween, Samhain. It is also Girl Scout Founder’s Day, World Cities Day, World Savings Day
• November 1 through the 2nd is set aside in Mexico for the Day of the Dead celebrations, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality
• The 1st is also Extra Mile Day and the state I grew up in back in India – Karnataka – celebrates its state day – Kannada Rajyotsva. It is also Prime Meridian Day
• November 2nd is Be the Impact Day, Look for Circles Day, and World Ballet Day
• And National Bison Day is celebrated on the first Saturday in November (The American Bison is the National Animal of the US of A)
• The 3rd is National Accessory Day, Give Someone a Dollar Day, and Zero Tasking Day

Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. Will you be attempting to write the list poem? And, of course, do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon. And for the Ultimate Blog Challenge