If you’re out of ideas for the subject of your poem or you’ve got a subject but don’t know where to take the poem in terms of content, try thinking of a few elements that you can build the poem around. These elements should be images or objects that you then include in the poem; the poem itself links these elements together. For example, you could have sandcastles, a stormy sky and an old farmer, or a clown, a childhood vacation and a sense of longing. The elements don’t have to initially make sense together — your task is to see if you can effectively build around them.
Starting a poem can be daunting, even if you know what your poem is about. One way around this is to think in terms of your five senses. If your poem is going to be about airplanes for instance, think about your immediate sensory reactions to being on-board a plane. Consider what you smell — the airplane food, for example — and what you hear, such as the sound of the flight attendants giving instructions, perhaps. This sensory examination should hopefully start off your exploration of your subject.
Sometimes the key to finding inspiration when beginning to write poetry is to adopt a new voice than the one you’ve used previously. This doesn’t mean changing your style dramatically. Instead, find a new way to tell a poem. You might write a poem as though it was a play or a radio broadcast, for example, or address it to yourself or to a friend. Consider writing from the perspective of someone you know or perhaps a celebrity, or maybe even an inanimate object that you want to feature heavily in the poem.
If you’re searching for that first line in your poem, don’t be afraid to take a well-known phrase or question and utilize it at the poem’s start. The Writer’s Block Help website, for example, suggests using the phrase "Have you ever..." as a way of leading into a poem about something you’ve always wanted to do but have never been able to. Even if you then remove the phrase you used, its inclusion kick-started your writing and that’s what matters.