Next time you’ve got an appropriate group of people together, and the appropriate amount of alcohol, give this a shot:

1. Agree on a poetic form. One of the sonnet styles is probably a safe bet; if your friends can pull this off with (say) a sestina, they’re both scary smart and not nearly tipsy enough. (Variant: Pick a well-known song to whose tune, and in whose rhyme scheme and scansion, the poem must be sung.)
   
2. Figure out who’s going in what order.
   
3. Have people shout out themes on which whoever’s up will compose an impromptu poem. Ideally, you have two that aren’t too obviously related: “nuclear winter” and “unrequited love,” say.
   
4. Take turns until everyone’s done one in the chosen form.
   
5. Lament that however brilliant you get at this, there will never, ever be an 8 Mile style movie about this.

ADDENDUM: Megan calls me out for failure to credit her with originating the game in question. It’s a fair cop. But I figure now I’m qualified to be hired as a blogger for The Washington Post.