Playing with poetry: a Biopoem

So, the other day my friend Zee posted a biopoem on her blog and encouraged others to try writing one. Being up for a challenge, I decided to give it a go. A biopoem is a fun exercise, whose origins I’m unsure of, where you follow a set of instructions to write a poem about yourself. Here’s how they work (click for a bigger image):

And here’s mine:

Emma
Passionate, reflective, stubborn
Child of Athena and Ares both
Who loves worlds, words, warmth
Who has felt isolation, infatuation, inspiration
Who fears silence, separation, stiltje*
Who found love across a sea, strength in a storm, words in her soul
Who looks forward to progeny, literary and literal
Born, bred and maturing in Tensta, Stockholm, Sweden
Lindhagen

*Stiltje is a Swedish word which means “lack of wind” or “lull”. Depending on the context, it could also be translated with things like “standstill” or “stagnation”. It is stillness, lack of action and developments. I simply couldn’t thing of a word in English that adequately summarized my associations with it so I kept the Swedish word.

It was fun to write. I feel a little pretentious, reading it, but that’s okay. It’s interesting to try to summarize yourself, and your life, in a few pre-determined lines. Maybe not the best way to make a genuine or multi-faceted reflection, but a very fun exercise all the same. Try it, why don’t you?