Seasonal Oppression
Seasonal Oppression
A Poem in Four Seasons
A Poem in Four Seasons
Seasons change, but do we?
In this challenge, you will write a poem that moves through all four seasons, but with a distinct shift in tone, mood, or meaning as the year unfolds.
The key? A single concrete detail must appear in each season, but change in description, purpose, or meaning.
Your seasons can appear in any order, but the poem must show a sense of movement—whether that movement is cyclical, linear, or chaotic is up to you.
Your poem must include all four seasons.
A single object or setting must repeat in each stanza, but change as the seasons shift.
Tone must shift from season to season. Does the mood darken? Does spring bring relief, or is it suffocating?
The surrounding details should evolve. What changes? The people? The atmosphere? The emotions?
What object, place, or detail will stay the same throughout the poem?
Does the poem follow the natural cycle of the seasons, or does it move out of order?
What is the emotional arc—does the poem build toward joy, decay, rebirth, or something else?
How does each season affect the perspective of the speaker?
"To Autumn" by John Keats – A rich, sensory depiction of a season in motion.
"The Waste Land" by T. S. Eliot – A fragmented, cyclical poem that explores time, memory, and decay.