Write a Poem for a Friend

Writing a poem for a friend can be a nice way to show your appreciation for their friendship and support. A friendship poem can also make a cool, personalized gift for a friend or act as a simple way to brighten up a friend’s day.

Steps

Brainstorming Ideas and Content for the Poem

1. Write about how and why you became friends. To get some ideas on what to write about in your friendship poem, you may want to go back to when your friendship first started. You may write down keywords associated with your first meeting with your friend or thoughts you had when you first met your friend.
   • You may also remember the distinct moment when you realized this person was going to be a good friend of yours and an important person in your life. Try to describe this moment, focusing on specific details. What you were wearing when you met your friend for the first time? Where did the meeting take place? What were your first thoughts or impressions of her?
2. Make a list of your friend’s personal traits. You can also brainstorm ideas for your poem by listing your friend’s personal traits. Is she known for being friendly, welcoming, and optimistic? Maybe she is known for having a great sense of style and an eye for fashion or a generous heart and an instinct for recognizing the good in people. Write down as many traits that pop into your head when you think of your friend.
   • You can include some negative traits if you’d like but because you are planning to create the poem for your friend as a tribute, you may want to focus on the positive traits. The poem will then reflect the aspects of your friend that you admire and appreciate.
3. List physical and sensory descriptions of your friend. Focus on your friend's voice, hair color, eye color, and general sense of style. You can also write down distinct details about her physique and demeanor, such as any physical ticks or habits she has, her syntax or way of speaking, any catchphrases she uses or any funny things she often says.
4. Think about good memories you have with your friend. Try to remember moments or scenes that illustrate a good time you had with your friend. This could be the time she comforted you after a bad breakup or the time you both did something mildly reckless and got away with it. Think about times when you had fun with your friend or had a positive experience.
   • Write down the details of the memory, from where you both were to what you were wearing to what you were doing. You should consider why the memory stands out to you and what emotions you associate with the memory.
5. Write about any hardships or challenges you have faced with your friend. You may also want to examine any struggles or hard times you experienced with your friend by your side. Even the best of friendships go through rough patches. You may want to consider any times where you and your friend had a difficult time and how you both got through it together.
   • For example, maybe you and your friend got into a big argument where hurtful things were said. You may want to describe the scene of the fight as well as the aftermath of the fight when you and your friend made up. This could help to show how strong your friendship is and how you both were able to put aside your differences and come together for the sake of your friendship.

Selecting a Form for the Poem

1. Read examples of friendship poems. To get a better sense of how you can approach your friendship poem, you may want to read a few examples, such as:
   • “A Toast to Our Friendship” by Mia Pratt.
   • "Toast to My Friend or Why Friendship is the Best Kind of Love" by Dorothea Lasky.
   • "The Friend" by Matt Hart.
   • "Dear Friend" by Dean Young.
2. Analyze the examples. Once you read the examples, you should look at how each example addresses friendship. You can also compare and contrast the examples to look at which ones you may prefer or feel will fit best with your subject matter.
   • Ask yourself, How does the writer discuss their ideas and feelings on friendship as well as how much their friend means to them? Do they use imagery, description, and detail to illuminate the friendship? What type of form does the writer chose for the poem and how does this contribute to the poem overall?
3. Use the free verse form. It can be daunting to start your poem with a blank page in front of you. One way to help you get started is to consider what type of form you would like to use for the poem. You may decide to try the free verse form, as it is one of the more common forms and can be relatively easy to do if you are new to writing poetry.
   • Free verse has no set meter, structure, or rhyme scheme. But when writing free verse, you should still try to create a cohesive piece that flows in some way and expresses your ideas clearly. You have lots of freedom in free verse to play around with the length of each line as well as the descriptions and images you use in the poem.
   • For example, the poem “A Toast to Our Friendship” by Mia Pratt uses the free verse form to discuss a close friendship. The author uses strong adjectives, verbs, and description to create an interesting portrayal of the relationship between friends. Though the verse is free-form, the poem still feels cohesive and focused.
4. Try a rhyming form. You can also try a rhyming form or rhyme scheme, where your poem has a pattern of rhyme that occurs at the end of each line of the poem. There are several popular rhyming forms you may want to try for your poem, including:
   • An alternate rhyme: Often, this rhyme follows the pattern ABAB, where the first and third line rhyme (A) and the second and fourth line rhyme (B). This rhyming pattern may then be repeated in each stanza or section of the poem.
   • Rhyming couplet: This form has two line stanzas that rhyme and may be placed in pairs or added at the end of a stanza. The rhyme scheme could be “A,A,B,B,C,C,...”
   • Ballad: This form has three stanzas with a rhyme scheme of “ABABBBCBC”, followed by “BCBC”.
   • Limerick: This form is five lines with a rhyme scheme of “AABBA”.
5. Go for a more visual form. If you are looking a different approach to your poem on friendship, you may try a more visual form that appears visually interesting on the page. This could be an acrostic form, where each letter of the friend’s name spells out a phrase, word, or image that represents the friend.
   • You could also break up the text into columns or sections on the page and group them under different ideas or thoughts about your friend.
   • Another visually interesting element could be integrating photographs of your friend into the text, placing the images at the beginning or end of the text.

Creating the Poem

1. Describe the scene using sensory details. Once you have brainstormed your poem, you should sit down and create a first draft. You may decide to focus on certain scenes with your friend that illustrate your friendship. You should use sensory details to describe the scene, such as any smells in the room with you and your friend, any colors or eye catching details, any sounds, and any items that you held or touched. Using sensory details will help the poem feel vibrant and engaging.
   • You may decide to focus on a scene of when you first met your friend or a where your friend did something brave and wonderful for you recently. You should try to describe the scene from your perspective and then discuss why you think what your friend did was so great or so interesting.
   • For example, rather than just write “I met you when I was in high school”, you might say, “There I was, my hair in braids and my braces flashing in the light, when I ran into you with your dyed black hair and platform shoes in the hallway and thought, who’s that girl?”
2. Include personal traits about your friend. Make the poem personal to you and your friend by including personal traits about your friend that you admire or find distinct. You may also include personal traits that you both share and discuss how these traits make your friendship stronger.
   • For example, in Mia Pratt’s “A Toast to Our Friendship”, the author notes personal traits that she shares with the friend she is writing about, comparing them to “a female Jordan and Scottie Pippen”, who “both share identical shoe sizes, body weight, and consumption of iron pills” as well as “identical patterns of speech”. These details make the poem feel personal and unique to the friendship the author shares with her friend.
3. Make the poem feel more personal by using the first person perspective. Though you can decide if the first person or the third person is a good fit for your poem, the first person perspective will help the poem to feel more personal and intimate. The first person “I” perspective will allow you to discuss your friendship from your point of view and address your friend directly by referring to “you” as well as “we” when you are talking about the two of you together.
4. Read the poem out loud. After you have created your poem, you should read it out loud to yourself to hear how the words sound together in each line. Notice if any lines should awkward or not quite right. Check for any words that seem too vague or unclear. You should also make sure you are using specific detail and sensory descriptions to make the poem feel engaging.
   • You may want to mark up the poem to note any awkward lines or words. You can then edit the poem for clarity and tone, focusing on the sections you have marked.
5. Show the poem to your friend once it is done. Once you are satisfied with your poem, you should share it with your friend as a surprise gift or casually hand it to her the next time you see her. Showing your poem to your friend will allow her to read about how much you value her and appreciate her friendship. She may even be inspired to write a poem about you and share her perspective on your friendship.

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