1.Purpose 2.Passion 3.Provoke 4.presentation 5.Pleasure

On the inside of you, dwells the power to write dynamic lines of poetry. When you have finished reading this article, you will not want to go immediately to the next poetry site. You will want to print this and read it again...and again, until you've captured the revelation of it. I have visited many poetry sites especially online poetry magazines. Unfortunately, there is a lot of terrible poetry out there being pushed as good just because the person has a degree or achievement of some kind. I know you yourself have seen some of these "prize winning" works and wondered why? How? You've said to yourself...my work is better than this. If you know what I am saying, then you are the right person to be reading what I am about to say. However, if you are of the mindset that every poem is a good poem then you are about to learn that that is not true. It is true that every person who write a poem can not bare to be told that it is not good. Yet, if you are this type of person, but long to be a better poet anyway, then you've come to the write place...smile at the pun...it was intended. Now let's digest the first pea.

PRESENTATION

The first question you should ask yourself is...who am I writing this poem to. This is a very important question and I will tell you why. If you are writing this poem to yourself, you will tend to write it in such a way that though you will grasp the meaning...another person reading it will not. Then it is a certainty that you are presenting the poem to yourself, which is fine if you don' intend to share it with anyone else for "their" reading enjoyment. However, if your intention is to write a poem for the purpose of sharing with another person, then it would pay you to take the time to note how it is presented. Why? Because if the reader's soul is not captured in the first 2 to 3 lines of what you have written, the only place it is fit to be in is some poetry magazine that the masses have never heard of. Ask the average person if they like poetry. Ask them if they ever read poetry. Most of them will tell you no. Ask them why and they will tell you that they don't understand most of it and that it is boring. This my friend, is where presentation comes in at. Decide in your mind that you will write with power AND with clarity. Vague does not stand for good in poetry. Vague is nothing but an obstruction to the clear reception of your poetry. So leave vague out...at least to some extent if not totally. Don't appear to be having a conversation with yourself or you will lose many readers. Furthermore, other poets will lie to you about how good of a poet you are.

PASSION

In order to write with passion, you must be a passionate person about life. This is why so many poems that I have come across rarely if ever touch my soul as I read them. Your poem is a two way street whereby the reader feels your passion which result in their own passion being stirred. Thus when they express to you how they felt as they read, you in turn have the joy of having felt their passion also...a kindred spirit of sorts. This is a rare and very joyful moment in the life of a poet, when he or she hears more than just..."that was good." Admit it...we rarely read poems that stir our soul and give us that ahhh feeling or cause us to say things like, "Now this is good...real good." or "Wow, he's good." or "Oh my goodness this is good." or "Now this is deep right here!" I could go on and on. The reason we say things like this when we have come across "that" poem is the because somehow, some way, we have felt that poet's passion and allowed it to mix with our own. So strive to have passion for life and it will flow from your pen. Be depressed and woeful about life and this also will flow from your pen...it's really up to you and what you want your poetry to accomplish.

PROVOKE

A well written poem will provoke a change from within. What is the use of writing a poem for the enjoyment of other readers if you have no intention of empowering them...inspiring them. Poetry is food for the soul and it show be written to enrich life...to enlighten one's mind. If one is not provoke to change in some manner or way for the better then that poem only went to the reader's mind and will eventually fade into a mist. Ask yourself, how deep or how lasting do I want this poem to be upon a reader's soul...their emotions. Ask yourself this BEFORE you write your next poem,,,what do you want this poem to accomplish in the mind AND soul of the reader. This brings us to the next pea that I want you to digest...

PURPOSE When you sit (or lay) down to write...write with purpose. It is time out for poems that are nothing more than rabbit trails. Poems without reason and that make no sense to the reader will quickly bore them out. This is the main reason poetry books do not sell well. People do not take joy in reading lines that make no sense to them. You don't either. I don't care if you are a poet. Let me ask you this...how many books by other poets do you have in your house that you have purchased yourself? I rest my case. Write with purpose. Ask yourself what do I want to accomplish with this poem and then accomplish it. Do not let anyone read it until you have finished it. When you have finished it you will be able to clearly see from point A to B and that's the way it should be. Stop the gibberish. Be concise and guide the reader down a straight path from your soul to their's using your pen. When you have digested these 4 peas, you will always be a...

PLEASURE...to read.

Poetry should be a pleasure to read and not a drudgery. There are different levels of pleasure for different people and various types of pleasure. When I say pleasure, I do not mean something that makes a reader feel good, but something that makes the reader feel...period. They literally experience your poem. It could be that you've written a poem about a good person who died in a horrible car accident. If that poem is well written, the reader will derive a certain kind of pleasure in having received a piece of your life along with the person you've written a poem about though they never knew them nor know you. This is all because you PRESENTED the poem to them with PURPOSE and PASSION which PROVOKED a change or an experience in them. We should never have people saying..."Oh Lord have mercy, this is boring." This is often said of poems that have no metaphors. Many poems that I've read are not poems at all. There's not one metaphor. Poetry should have some metaphors...something that is said without saying it...a picture painted with words. It doesn't matter whether the poem rhymes or not. I love rhyme and freestyle and haiku too. The metaphor gives a poet that extra P...that extra PUNCH. Metaphors are the seasonings in your poem which makes the soul of it's reader say ahhh or ohhh this is so beautiful. Metaphors give PLEASURE to the mind of it's reader and receive down past the soul into the spirit. A good poem touches the mind and soul but an awesome poem enthralls both the mind, soul and the spirit of it's reader. This is where most of us will describe a poem of this manner as being "deep". When someone has read one of your poems, you know you have grasped the revelation of the 5 peas with that extra metaphoric "Punch" if they ask you if you have any more they can read. That is the highest compliment that one can pay a poet. Many will tell you that your poetry is good, but it is those few who want to read more of your work that are truly worthy of you taking the time to share more with.