Building a House

It's like the real thing! But with words... and hurt feelings

The Challenge:

Write a poem about a house your speaker has built. As they describe the structure—its walls, its rooms, its foundation—they should indirectly reveal their own personality, emotions, and worldview.

The house might be sturdy or fragile, spacious or claustrophobic, simple or extravagant. Every detail the speaker chooses to include (or exclude) should tell us something about who they are.

But here’s the twist

Is your speaker reliable? Are they being honest about the house they’ve built? Or are they exaggerating, hiding something, or outright lying? Consider how much the reader should trust them.

Requirements:

• The poem must describe a house in a way that reveals the speaker’s personality.

• The narrator's trustworthiness should be questioned—are they telling the whole truth?

• The poem should create a strong sense of mood—is the house a refuge? A trap? A dream? A disaster?

• You are encouraged to experiment with format, perspective, and voice.

Tips for Strong Writing:

• Be specific. Instead of saying, the walls were old, try the wallpaper curled at the edges, stained with the memory of hands that lingered too long.

• Think about contrasts. Does the speaker describe the house as perfect while dropping small hints that it is falling apart? Does their tone match reality?

• Use sensory details. What does the house smell like? What sounds echo through its halls? How does the floor feel underfoot?

• Play with reliability. Does the speaker’s description shift? Do they contradict themselves? Does the house sound too good to be true or strangely incomplete?

Model Work for Inspiration:

Stephen Dugan’s “Love Song: I and Thou” (a speaker who describes devotion but reveals something unsettling)

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” (a house as a symbol of its owner’s decaying mind)

Emily Dickinson’s “I Dwell in Possibility” (a house as an extended metaphor for creativity and imagination)

Carl Sandburg’s “Home” (a reflection on the meaning of shelter and safety)

The Yellow Wallpaper by Gilman (a speaker explores her mental state by using the wallpaper of her room as a canvas for her mind)