Article: Because this is a personal poem for your boyfriend, you should focus on writing from your voice and your perspective. This means using “I” or first person, to discuss your feelings and emotions towards your boyfriend. The poem should reflect your personality and your personal thoughts on your boyfriend. Using your natural voice and style will help it feel unique to you. If you have a selected a specific form for your poem, such as free verse or a rhyming form, you should commit to it and follow the structure of the form. Read other examples of the form and try to follow their lead. Following a consistent pattern can make your poem feel cohesive and like a real piece of art. If you want to use a rhyming scheme, try to choose one that does not use a lot of rhyming. Too much rhyming can sound sing-songy and make your poem sound a little cheesy or silly. Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poem “I Love You” is a good example of using rhyme to create a romantic poem that does not feel cheesy or overdone. You should include literary devices like simile and metaphor in the poem to describe your thoughts and emotions more effectively.  Simile uses “like” or "as" to describe something, such as, “My love for you is like a big red rose" or "My love for you is as beautiful as a big red rose.” Metaphor uses direct comparison to describe something, with no "like" or "as" such as “My love for you is a slice of cake." In general, metaphors as used more often in poetry than similes. Try to come up with unique similes and metaphors, as this will make your poem sound more unique and specific to you. Rather than say, “your love is like the wind”, for example, you may choose a more specific metaphor like, “your love is like my favorite food”. If you decide to include specific memories in the poem, you should include details that use the five senses (sound, sight, taste, touch, and smell). Using sensory details will make your memories come alive and give your reader a better sense of the memory. For example, rather than describe being away from your boyfriend during a hard time as “full of loneliness and sadness”, you could delve into a specific memory of loneliness or sadness during that time. You may say, “I remember long nights of listening to you on the phone and missing the smell of your hair, I remember waking up to an empty room and aching for your body, warm and sleeping beside me.” To make your poem that much stronger, you should avoid using cliches and familiar terms or phrases. Instead, push yourself to come up with unfamiliar or unique descriptions. A good rule of thumb with cliches is that if the phrase sounds familiar to you and you think you have heard it before, it is likely a cliche. There are many cliches around the theme of love and relationships, from “roses are red” to “dreaming of you” to “you make my heart swoon”. Try to replace these familiar descriptions with ones that are specific to you and your boyfriend. For example, if you and your boyfriend love pizza, maybe you could try to use as many pizza related descriptions as possible, from “your love is as essential as my favorite pepperoni pizza” to “I love you more than Ranch dipping sauce”. After you have created your poem, you should read it out loud to yourself to hear how the words sound together in each line. Check for any lines that sound awkward or not quite right. Mark any words that seem too vague or unclear. Make sure your poem includes specific detail and sensory descriptions so it feels descriptive and engaging. As you read, you may want to mark up the poem and note any awkward lines or words. You can then edit the poem for clarity and tone, focusing on the sections you have marked. Surprise your boyfriend by writing the poem in a nice card or printing it out and leaving it for him on his pillow to find in the morning. Make the poem feel like a special gift for him to discover and make the decorations personal so he knows how much you care for him.

What is a summary?
Write in the first person. Stick to your form. Use simile and metaphor. Include sensory details. Replace cliches with unique descriptions and phrases. Recite the poem out loud to yourself. Give your boyfriend the poem once it is done.