Acrostic Poems

My son is turning four this month. Four! Time flies.

I’ve been thinking of long-lasting, meaningful gifts and I’m considering writing an acrostic poem for both him and my daughter (whose birthday is in August).

An acrostic poem is one in which certain letters in each line (usually the first) spell out a word when lined up. They’re commonly created using names. See more examples at yourdictionary.com.

Writing poetry can be a good exercise for fiction writers. Even if poetry is not a writer’s preferred style, it teaches us to think about describing the subject from new angles. I could see using this to help solidify character descriptions and backstory.

In my case, I’m committing my children’s personalities to memory. One day I hope to share with them what they were like at three and four years old.

I wrote acrostic poems about my dogs years ago. I’ll share Sampson’s as an example.

S pirit that cannot be contained.
A dventurer at the ready.
M aster climber and wildlife trainer.
P hotogenic. Anytime. Anywhere.
S pecies confused; the son of my heart.
O vert lover of everyone.
N obility and foolery perfectly combined.