How to Write an Erotic Poem

Erotic and romantic poems are the most difficult to master. Perhaps they are the easiest to complete. It is easy to finish a love poem when compelled by pure passion. However, cliches and over used figures of speech force the most well-intended writer produce a sluggish, tired poem.

Any poem, any letter is special to the beloved. But, if a writer wants to produce an erotic piece that is universal that speaks to more than the object or muse, one must be careful to observe the following steps. 

1. Emote

The major reason why most love poems fail to reach beyond the lover is the failure to observe the overstated adage, "Show. Don't tell." Many lovers write poems for the purpose of letting the partner know just how the partner makes the lover feel. When an author writes a poem for an audience, the audience wants to feel both the admiration of being loved and the urgent passion of loving someone enough to write it down. The reader doesn't want to be a witness to a distant love. The reader wants to experience love and sex first-hand just by reading a single work of art. 

2. Don't Forget the Forgotten Senses

The second most common reason why many erotic poem fail... is the failure to explore the senses of the human body. The word imagery is misleading. Imagery is not only the creation of a visual image; imagery can be the recreation of physical touch, sensual sounds, subtle tastes and oft-forgotten smells. Imagery can also be the display of the sixth sense, intuition shared between lovers.

3. Do not write what you have read before.

Cliches can break a decent poem. Unless your metaphor is uniqurly witty, similies should be avoided in love poems. The only way to make the reader believe the love poem is to create a special experience. The audience will not believe that the author is in love, or even in lust, if the most vivid descriptions are over used phrases. How can the reader believe that the object of the poem, the letter is unique if the words used to describe him or her are not original?

Other than that, the only other way to learn how to write an erotic poem or any love poem is to read.  The best place to begin: Neruda and Rumi.