Once upon a time there lived someone. Who did something. Then all of a sudden there was a complication. Then the complication was resolved and a moral lesson usually taught. Then the story concluded in a nice and tight way drawing together the storyline.

The End.

Now all of you know how to write a narrative. The NSW school system seems to place a heavy emphasis on the narrative structure – you write narratives all through your English learning days. Seriously. In my HSC (for those who aren’t from around here the HSC is the final exams for an entire school life) I had the choice to write a creative piece on one of three different ‘lines’ in one of three different text types. Guess what one of those text types was?

That’s right.

A narrative.

So I thought back to my pre-written piece that I had been refining for the last period of time (like all the ‘smart’ kids). Then I adapted it slightly, chucked it onto the page trying to make it as long as possible (but not too long). Then when all of that was done… I had finished a third of one of my English exams (there are two for most people, each one two hours long). One day I may put that story in a series of blogs… but then you’d all see how corny it is. Also I don’t like my longer writings too much. When it comes to things like that I prefer my poetry.

See with poetry being vague can be a ‘skill’. It makes it a more ‘figurative’ piece. Plus you can chuck a couple of lines that really don’t make sense and it can make a poem ‘complicated’. So here goes…

Dark eddies,

Drifting through a silent darkness.

Ghosts on the wind…

Death in the air-

Sinister whispers

And suggestions of another time.

Death from life-

As the beginning becomes the end…

That was written in the space of three minutes or so. ‘Impromptu’ poetry… the lack of pre-defined thought adds to its mystery.

Now I challenege YOU, think of it like Uncle Sam except I don’t want you to go to war and risk your life (and it also has nothing to do with America). Try to write some ‘impromptu’ poetry, you could have some fun.