On The Teaching of Poetry Writing

To teach a student only "your way" of thinking and to parrot your attitudes for a good grade is really limiting. I think with the teaching of poetry it is really important not to squelch the voice of the student-poet. All poets have their own unique style and voice. A student shouldn't be a clone of a teacher because it strokes his or her ego. It is important to listen really hard, to teach a few sharp tools and to stand back when the craftsperson sings out.

Endings

A good poem should have a slap -upside -the -head ending. Labelling it masculine or feminine, soft or hard seems inane. Poetry shouldn't end for you all neat and tidy and nice--this is poetry not a romance novel..the reader should be going along pulled into the story then WHAM! surprise..that 's what makes a poem endure , in my head anyway.. I really appreciate a writer who doesn't condescend to me and respects me as a reader enough to shock me.
Human beings have been walking around the earth telling each other their stories since the first cave paintings and probably before that. A poem tells a story. We want to hear a new story. So if the ending surprises us, perhaps that is what makes the story new. It is a disappointment if a reader gets to the ending before his/her eyes actually READ all the words the writer wrote and loses interest. Doesn't bother to read it all the way through.

helpful hints for beginning poets

so you want to write poetry. Don't worry about being the next poet laureate. Just follow these few helpful hints.
What is a poem? a poem is often a combination of an emotion and an image that seem paradoxical. Here is an example. A friend of mine recently lost her mother to a long battle with Alzheimers disease. This was her first Christmas without her mom. Her husband's relatives came unexpectedly to stay and so my friend decided to decorate her house. While she was searching for packed-away Christmas decorations, she found a box of glass ornaments that had belonged to her mother back when my friend was a child. She was thrilled to find them. And saddened not to be able to sit down with her mom and say "Oh look at these! Remember them?" Instead, she hung one each in all the thresholds of the rooms of her house as she had seen her mom do long ago. The poem lies in the contrast between her joy in finding and hanging these beautiful ornaments that are each a memory of her mother and her mother's absence. Feeling grief and the image of each delicate shining ornament.
It is important to write from the gut not the head. Not to "think about " writing poetry. I sometimes recommend closing your eyes as the pen or keyboard reveals the words. You can always look at it later. Tinker with details after.
Don't end a poem all tied up nicely like a perfect predictable bow. A reader's mind likes surprise and respect. For example in keeping with my illustration of my friend's mother, suppose she paints us a wonderful word picture of her mother hanging these ornaments-- good memories as a child, and then surprises us with feeling angry because why did her mother leave her? with "what good are these glass things? when I can't ask my mom what to do about a life situation any more".."when I can touch the glass but not hug my mother." Another possible image she could use would beif she dropped an ornament and the sound and sight of the broken shards..and feelings evoked...