Poems that Work Well for this Exercise (in order of increasing complexity):

NOTE: It works best when using a poem for this purpose to choose poems where a stanza breaks after a full stop like a period. Without this cue, it can be very difficult for students to find the stanza breaks and lose the relevance when we transfer this skill to paragraphing.

“Keeping Quiet” by Robert Bly

“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden

“Democracy” by Langston Hughes

“Losing My Religion” by Ron Koertge

“New Yorkers” by Edward Field

“If Life Were Like Touch Football” by Julie Cadwallader-Staub