The word things can mean many… well… erm…. things: Objects, feelings, events. Take the tittle These Things think about it for five minutes then write for ten minutes from the title or a related idea that has struck you. Again just start writing make your pen or pencil or fingers keep moving – do not worry about structure, grammar or spelling! Those things can be added or sorted out later.

If you are lucky then you will have a first draft poem but more likely you will have a lot of dross with one or two good strong images in or phrases that you can use to build a poem around.