Epistolary poems, from the Latin “epistula” for “letter,” are, quite literally, poems that read as letters. As poems of direct address, they can be intimate and colloquial or formal and structured.

Langston Hughes Epistolary Poem
Letter

Dear Mama,
Time I pay rent and get my food
and laundry I don’t have much left
but here is five dollars for you
to show you I still appreciates you.
My girl-friend send her love and say
she hopes to lay eyes on you sometime in life.
Mama, it has been raining cats and dogs up
here. Well, that is all so I will close.
Your son baby
Respectably as ever,
Joe

Write an Epistolary poem to someone. The person can be anyone in the world. For this exercise, do not address your poems to non-human things.

You can post your poem here if you like. You will need a password. Write to theliterarynest@gmail.com if you need the password.