A sun inside a seed? Seasons inside an apple? In just nine lines, American poet Reg Saner turns a common piece of fruit into a universe. Read Saner’s poem below, noticing his use of metaphor and simile, and then write your own nine-line poem that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.
 
Winter Apple
 
Stem bent black as wick.
Last leaf like withered flame.
Yet slick as brown satin
every seed keeps within it
a sun remotely afire,
ever so faint, yet patient
and wakeful
as all a long winter’s
one furthest star.

Need some inspiration? Check out these extraordinary examples from engi_aek and Sarah Yang.