How do I poetry?

Wow, my mind is on auto-correct mode. I was sure that the title read “How do I write poetry?” until you mentioned that that the title was silly. Then, I still couldn’t figure out what was so funny about “How do I write poetry?”

Some forms of poetry have a very strict form, such as haiku and limericks. There does not need to be any set structure. A lot of poems don’t rhyme. All a peom has to do is to sound nice. I would suggest that poems, if they don’t have rhyme, need some sort of rythm or pulse, which is called called a meter(poetry). The entire play Romeo and Juliet is written in the Iambic Petameter meter, which make the whole thing one long poetic piece.

The link doesn’t show up right, the (poetry) should be part of the URL.

Don’t try to be poetic or write poems. Instead, write sentences about things you sense (see, smell, taste, hear, touch) and if they incite a memory or an emotion or an insight. Just one sentence at a time at first.

Don’t try to rhyme, it will force you into poor word choices. Learn to express yourself first, you can try rhyme and meter later.

Be brave, share your sentences by posting as a face book status. And then email to your SO, without any other words in the email.

Poetry has become increasingly more diverse in recent years. You can write unstructured poetry and just focus on conveying raw feeling in a way that flows, or meticulously structure it with rhyme and rhythm and syllables. I found a book a little over a year ago that I absolutely adore, because I never understood poetry either but always wanted to, called The Poet’s Companion by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux that I would wholeheartedly recommend to you if you want to know a lot more about poems. However, I suggest you start a journal, if you don’t already keep one, and write about your life and how you feel and what you don’t understand. Then, read what it is you write and think to yourself about the way it flows and the feeling it conveys, while imagining you’re somebody else, and there you have it.

Read poetry first. Find out what you like. Some wonderful poetry, especially older work, has evident structure, meter, rhyme, etc. Some has not. Those forms are common to the literature of poetry but don’t necessarily define it. People who want to write poetry can’t do justice to the art unless they read it.

Poetic language is different from ordinary prose. Become acquainted with what makes poetry poetry. There are many good books that can help you understand.

Also try reading what your special someone reads and enjoys, since that is probably the standard that he or she has in mind.

Robert Frost: “A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.”

You can always wonder about poetry, however, most poets I know, prefer to just write it.

The writing of poetry always follows the living of it. Live poetry first.

I would start by reading poetry and sharing what you most like. You can share an interest in music without feeling the need to write a concerto, why do people feel they have to write their own poems?

@flutherother Well, I am studying Literature at school. It’s not necessarily that I want to be a poet, but I would like to try my hand at it at least once especially if it makes my SO happy. I love blank-verse. Someone here mentioned Romeo and Juliet being a great big poetical piece and that’s exactly how I feel about most English Renaissance plays which is why they’re a huge interest to me.

The answers have so far been helpful and I’m feeling a lot more confident about sitting down and just writing things. Thank you all very much.