How do I write a poem?

Thank you for recognizing that a poem need not rhyme.

One goal of those of us who write poetry, is certainly to involve the reader, even relating on a personal level to what we've written, and is read.

Another goal certainly is to create vivid imagery. The cliche "A picture can create a thousand words" is also true in reverse. "A word can create many images." To do so takes practice/skill if you will, and in using the imagination, is often inspired, by one or multiple things, Nature, Love, Animals, Events, Beginnings, Endings, etc.

We often might find ourselves inspired by everything,,,as I am from Apples to Zebras, and almost everything can be expressed poetically.

Of course there are forms/structures, which have "rules" in place, such as sonnets, but poets often take and use "poetic license" to color a bit outside the lines, as can be evidenced in many, newer, contemporary forms.

You can learn to write a poem by reading the poetry of famous writers.

Read Edgar Allan Poe,Sylvia Plath,Robert Frost

and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

After this study how to format the poem and meter to make it flow..

The more you practice the better you will get.

"There once was a man from Nantucket..." Oh, wait. I can't say that one in here. Never mind.

Rhyme