As poets, we love words and delight in exploring nuances of language. This experiment is designed for exploring a word—this time, a word you just learned.

Step 1

Read something you wouldn’t normally read—perhaps a medical journal, a Hindu text, an encyclopedia. Come across a word you don’t know the definition of.

Step 2

Look up the definition. Read the definition written in several different dictionaries. Really familiarize yourself with how the word is used and the nuances of its meaning.

Step 3

Create an acrostic poem: a poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read vertically. In this case, the first letters should spell out your new vocabulary word.

Things to consider:

• Does the sound of the word seem congruent with the meaning?
• What does the word rhyme or partially rhyme with?
• What kind of environment is the word used in—scientific, literary, judicial?
• Can you apply the word in/to different contexts?
• Try to avoid simply using synonyms.
• Imagine how you would use the word in a conversation.
• Imagine how you wouldn’t use the word in a conversation.

Example word and poem:

mne·mon·ic

noun

a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.: "the usual mnemonic for star types is O Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me".

adjective

aiding or designed to aid the memory.

Mother Never Eats Mandarin Oranges Near Improbable Corners

Mother takes her time with the cooking.

Never worries for her hunger, or ours. Our family

Eats in the dire straits of the evening, eats

Mandarin chicken thawed in ice water, drinks

Oranges juiced hours ago. Sometimes she wakes up

Near dawn like she would years ago, yawning for the

Improbable dead to answer. On these days I fold down

Corners in her recipe book.