Courage

This poem begins in childhood with a first step, a first bicycle ride, and the first time a child feels alone. It progresses through life and ends with old age. The poet structures each verse as a paragraph about a stage in the chronology of a person’s life and gives examples of the challenges people face at each age. Write a poem in which you follow Anne Sexton’s pattern. Use the verse paragraph structure and write a chronological poem about your own life. You could focus on several challenges you have faced or on a single life event that you break down into its smaller challenges. Your poem should contain four verse paragraphs.