Similes
Look through a book of poems (or the packets) you like, and find a few similes to use as inspiration. Now go someplace where you can observe nature, people, traffic, or something. Based on what you notice, begin listing some similes. They don’t have to make complete sense. Don’t think about what else you would write with them. Just write whatever you think of.
Some examples:
“Sounds of leaves moving overhead like so many whispered conversations.' —Jane Kenyon
“He slumps like the very meaning of surrender.' —Ted Kooser
“Lawyers encircled the farm like a fence.' —Ted Kooser
Be sure to make a comment on a classmates post for full credit.
Katherine Whelchel
His love was like a soft whisper with a pounding, vibrating roar.
The lies were erased like a gust of water consuming a sandcastle.
Freedom broke through like shattered glass in perfect shards.
My mind was still like a soundless scream.
Andrew Lange
I like how you made yours into a cohesive product! I can imagine what this might be talking about it- failed relationship, etc?
Andrew Lange
Arguing at the soda fountain about derivatives like siblings
Straightening chairs like a severe OCD episode
Gossipping like family members
Table hunting like a hawk, brandishing his food tray like a weapon
Nitpicking in the corner like schoolchildren over something
Laughing like it’s the funniest thing ever
Asking questions like an interrogator or stalker
Explaining rules of sports like they’re quantum physics
Dishes rattling like soft drink ice
(These are things you hear/see in the cafeteria if you people-watch, along with all kinds of seemingly out-of-context cell phone conversations)
Katherine Whelchel
Andrew, I could envision everything you were describing, and I can see it fitting smoothly into a piece. I thought it was really well done 🙂
Sierra Russell-McCollum
His beard was prickly, like a scrubbing side of a sponge.
The sheets were as thin as a freshly frozen lake.
Both of us lay still, like a prey being hunted.
The sun peaks through the curtains, like a flashlight.
He’s snoring, like a pig in a pig pen.
The fan quickly spinning, like the propeller of an airplane.
The dog laying at the end of the bed, like a lion protecting his cubs.
His arm thrown over my side, like a blanket on the arm of a chair.
Aubri Stogsdill
I really like the last line! I actually imagined his arm as if it were a blanket and in my mind saw it being dropped over you! I love that description! (:
Naimy Schommer
I really like that second one! Reminds me of springtime in Alaska. 🙂
T Gordon
Nice, I liked your similies, especially when you describe the sheets ‘as thin as a freshly frozen lake.’ I don’t get the sense that you are overly romanticizing this scene of two people lying in a bed, you seem to just be helping the reader to create a picture in their mind. These lines evoked great imagery, and I was able to imagine the scene in my head quite well.
Aubri Stogsdill
He stares like the very word longing
anxiously, she wipes her eyes, like a woman removing her war paint
flakes fall like meteors, heavy, determined
with the precision of a surgeon, she folds her napkin
the tea makes me dream, like a sweet song or a kiss on the forehead
lovesick, like a lamb to the slaughter, she walks on
Aundrea Pierce
Aubri,
I enjoyed your similes! It all goes together so well, and I can feel how emotionally strong the woman is trying to be. I’m interested in what the last line means (it sounds amazing, but I’m bad at interpreting) could you break it down for me?
Michelle Cordova
Aubri,
Your similes are wonderful! You definitely have a way with words, and I look forward to reading your work every week! Great job!
Jessica Honebein
Aubri I like how even though this is a short piece it has a lot to say in it. I think that your similes were very impacting and helped me to picture what you were saying in even more depth. I really like the line, “she wipes her eyes, like a woman removing her war paint.” I think that it gives good imagery but it also shows the reader a deeper emotion as well!
Caitlyn Williams
Her eyes were blank, like the checks in her checkbook
Her heart sank like a ship out at sea
She was lost like the thing you needed, but couldn’t find
Her stomach growled like the big dog down the block
Her phone idle, like the cars sitting in an almost vacant parking lot
She was alone; she felt like an astronaut lost in space
Her eyes were low, like what the beach looks like at 530 in the morning, but
Her hopes were high like 7,000 feet up in the sky
Her dreams were as vivid as the orchids she planted
Her thoughts seemed to change, like the season; winter to spring
Her eyes lit up like a quiet serene sunrise
She is alive; She is alive, like a lion in a pride
Her outlook is now great, like pancakes on a plate
Her mind has become clever, she’s never felt better!
Aundrea Pierce
Caitlyn,
You have some great similes! “Her eyes were blank, like checks in her checkbook.” For me, I get a sense of excitement from this comparison because the blanks checkbooks make me think, “yay, I still have money to spend!” Or it could be felt the opposite, depending on how a reader views a blank checkbook. I just ate three sweet potato pancakes, so I personally relate to her “great” outlook!
Aundrea Pierce
The dog stares at me, like a tiny little juror.
The crows make their presence known as a laughing old witch does.
The trees were bare naked like a mole rat.
The Blue Jay zipped across my path, like a feathered dart.
The frost bit at my nose, like a puppy gnawing on his ball.
The clover fields were bushy and all around, like rabbits huddled together.
The morning birds chattered away like busy operators at work.
The spicy eggs and coffee sloshed around in my stomach, like hot magma on the surface of a volcano.
My hair desperately needed to be tamed, like a wildcat with rabies.
The school kids were racing to school, like young college athletes with potential.
The intense sunlight bounced off my Oakley’s like a ball bounces off the wall.
Monica Gallagher
I love “The dog stares at me, like a tiny little juror”! This is my dog and I imagined him automatically just glaring at me, very relatable and funny.
The blue jay line is perfect, I have never thought of it that way, but now I will. I have little racy birds all around my place and now I will think, flying feather darts!
The spicy eggs and coffee one made me laugh out loud. I have totally been there.
Naimy Schommer
insomnia like ocean waves
dangling like a silent vowel
as tangled as a lie
shocking like a a cannonball in water
heart like a wild wind
Katherine Whelchel
Beautiful Naimy! SO clear and potent!
Cassidy Kramer
Wow I love these! Especially the ocean waves one, and since I live right next to the ocean I could picture it!
Leah Rego
The burning wood cracked like the sound of bones breaking
The girl spun in circles like a carefree kitten at play
She sat focused intensly on her homework like a scientist trying to discover the origin of the universe
The falling snow clung to every surface like powdered sugar on a doughnut
The excited dogs attacked each other in play like fierce wolves in a death match
Corbin Knapp
Hi Leah!
I thought you wrote some great similes! I think that you could include most of these lines in some great poems. I especially liked the simile, “ The burning wood cracked like the sound of bones breaking.†This is a great simile and describes the sound of burning logs perfectly. Great job!
Ben Knapp
Very nice! I like the second to last one the best. I look forward to seeing more of your poetry!
Monica Gallagher
“She sat focused intensely on her homework like a scientist trying to discover the origin of the universe”. Great, great line! We all have been there, and there are several meme’s that came to mind when I read this line. Fantastic imagery and wording.
Corbin Knapp
I enter my room like a bear enters its cave,
the night as cold as winters chill.
Like a vole I scramble into my nest,
its sheets as warm as a smile.
My gaze grows dim like the setting sun,
as my eyes close and I dream of tomorrow.
Ben Knapp
I glide over the snow like a stone skipping over water
Sunlight frames the cat like a spotlight
The frost creeps up the window like an army of spiders
The trees bend before the wind as if bowing to their conqueror
My teacher grades my math like a reporter writing an obituary
Like unoiled cogs, my brain creaks to work
Like a sailor seeking land, I watch the clock
Monica Gallagher
I love the one with the teacher! “My teacher grades my math like a reporter writing an obituary”, that’s great. I can picture this happening to my teacher as well and you know that they don’t necessarily like doing it but they have to which would be the reporter as well. I get it. Its good!
The first one with the gliding and the stone skipping didn’t work for me as well, I was thinking is he catching his edge or what is happening? I guess I pictured myself snowboarding and gliding and the stone skipping doesn’t seem to be as smooth. You were probably thinking of something else entirely, or maybe you just skip stones waaay better than I do. 🙂
I really like the frost one because I can not only imagine the frost, but it brings out another visualization of the army of spiders. Even though I really am not a fan of spiders, I like the imagery.
The cog line with the brain creaking is cool too, I imagine your brain actually walking to work, which is hilarious to me.
Michelle Cordova
Her heart breaks like eggs, fractured, torn, easily disposed of
He waves goodbye, so carelessly, tossing their fairy tale out the window as if their story was unworthy of a home on his shelf of favorites
She turns and walks away, carefully placing one foot in front of the other like a baby who has yet to gain her balance
She watches his airplane take off into the sky like a bird who has devoured the last ounce of flesh from a carcass, now ready to return to its nest
She drives, on and on, with tears flowing from her eyes like a hose with a failed valve, unable to shut off
Caitlyn Williams
Hi Michelle,
I really liked your similes, the way they’re cohesive makes it an interesting story. I feel raw emotions that were put into comparisons that fit really well. I also really like your descriptions, the last one pulls my strings, I feel the heartbreak. Great job!
Monica Gallagher
Crickets sing like an evening chorus.
The whirl of wind was like an air massage.
The crisp crunch of sand, like walking on stars.
A crabs shell laying, like a portrait of polka dots.
The rush of water like a welcoming parade.
Cotton candy was like the color of sky.
Sea foam spread like a purposeful painting.
The squish of sand like slippery memory foam.
The creak of wood like an old mans back.
The cloak of night envelopes like a bedtime story.
Humidity wraps like a warm blanket.
The sound of blues in the night like
warming whiskey.
Reminiscent of the bayou, as if you
had been there. . .
Evening dreaming like a child on
benadryl, you say smoof.
State of mind cool, laying low like
a tramp on track,
for nothing in particular yet
it never lacks.
Because the mood is right, naturally
like sweet southern right.
Front porch swinging, against
a dizzy remembrance of what?
Was and will never be again.
Jessica Honebein
The shop is loud like a thunderstorm.
Power Tools liked the walls like art on the wall.
Cars and trucks waited for their turn like people in a check out line.
The mechanics were focused like lions seeking their prey.
The smell of grease and oil lurked in the air like the smell of popcorn at movie theaters
People shuffled in and out as slow as turtles.
The hour went by like a flash.
The sound of the engine starting was as quiet as a mouse.
The shop sound stuck in my ears as I left like snare drums
Mekayla
She moved silently and elegantly, like a leaf dancing in the wind
Lost in a book like a sailor at sea
Her voice was as soft as snowflakes falling at dawn
He moved as slow as a tortoise
The wind felt as cold as ice
The alarms sounded like shrill screams
Her smile was like a ray of sunshine
The trees stood tall, like they were reaching for the stars
His tears flowed like rivers down his face
Cassidy Kramer
The child had energy running through him like an electric fence
Smile as dull as an overused pencil
Shirt red like an embarrassing moment
Ground as slippery as a bar of soap
Face mysterious like a new neighborhood
T Gordon
Sun shining through the clouds like a mother peeking her head through a door
Night arriving as swiftly as a step
Snowflakes falling as carelessly as a drunkard dances
Trees swinging as if in pain
Fog hanging over the valley like a sheer curtain
A hill as high as the eye can see