Name poetry
Name poetry is poetry built around a name. The name may appear in the title, first letters, repeated sounds, hidden message, subject, or central image of the poem. A name poem may honor, describe, remember, praise, tease, mourn, or address a person, place, pet, ancestor, fictional character, or self.

Name poetry often includes personal detail, direct address, acrostic structure, sound play, memory, praise, and symbolic meaning. A simple name poem may spell the name downward as an acrostic. A more complex name poem may use the name’s letters, meaning, history, sound, or associations.

To write a name poem, begin with the name. Decide whether the poem will describe the person, speak to the person, hide the name, or use the letters as a constraint. The poem should do more than list compliments. It should make the name feel alive.

Sarah

Sunlight rests on window glass,
A quiet hand lifts morning’s thread.
Repairs are made, button tight,
And now she sees the children fed.
Her jobs won’t end till night.

“Sara” follows name poetry by using the letters of the name as an acrostic. The first letters of the lines spell SARA downward. The poem also creates a personality, and a gentle mood suited to the name rather than merely defining it.

Name poetry is a traditional poetic practice rather than a single fixed form. It may be acrostic, lyric, elegiac, comic, devotional, romantic, or memorial.