★When you’re writing poetry, you don’t have to write the perfect poem. You just have to write today’s poem.
★Read the work of poets your love, but also vary your tastes. There’s something to learn from everyone.
★Give yourself permission to write whatever you feel like writing. If that’s trash, then write trash. We’ll worry about making the trash “pretty” and “clever” later.
★Play with rhyme. Play with with free verse. Play with alliteration. Play with everything.
★Poetry is like literally every other hobby. Practice and get better.
★Keep a journal
★If you have an idea, write it down right then before it flies away. Inspiration is fleeting. It’s easier to catch that butterfly right in front of you than to chase down one that is miles away.
★Be Vulnerable.
★You don’t have to be angsty. You don’t have to have a “muse” or whatever that means. You just need to be a living, breathing person to write poetry and that is enough.
★Understand that not every poem is meant to be shared.
By the Brooke 