How do you stay on topic

[milo]

Hey all 

new to this world but 

curious how like dyou ensure you stay on topic while writing?

i feel like i have issues with wandering, and also forcing end rhymes 

not sure what the fix is, maybe a thesaurus?

idk let me know what you guys think

I think this is a great question and it speaks to the individualism of writing.

First the most obvious question:

What is topic?

The focus of writing poetry - imo - is to produce great poetry.  That is it.

I have long maintained that poetry is a poor choice for rhetoric. Prose is far more efficient.  In addition, the subject matter tries to steer the poem rather than metaphor.

If you mean central metaphor - well, that is where a poet's bridge sense comes in
Almost any word or idea can be steered to point at your central metaphor - often through the use of a bridge metaphor

Let's take a look at a famous poem by Shelley

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Now the central metaphor for this is comparing the time ravaged waste of a present experience to the boasts of a long dead ruler.


What are some other images Shelley has managed to bridge over to that?

Most prominent is probably the fallen statue representing a fallen man
Next we have the sculptor as creator comparing the value of creator to ruler
Finally is the sand representing inevitability

Bridge metaphor is the best technique for tying your poem together
It is also my very favorite technique in poetry writing
I deliberately examine my own writing and adjust to include bridge metaphor.


Take a minute and examine any poem you write or any poem you like and take note of the author's use of bridge metaphor

Thanks

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Edit: The traveler is certainly a bridge metaphor as well I am just too lazy to add it