I've seen things around like "Learn how to write poetry"
I don't think anyone actually learns how to write poetry. A person never has to be taught, they just need to find that poet inside them. I remember in tenth grade my teacher had us all write poems in class. Everyone wrote typical "roses are red" type crap. I wrote what many would consider a very talented poem about living life in your own way, not following the paths of others, standing on your own two feet... that kind of thing. The teacher (I don't remember her name) looks over my shoulder and goes "Gary, that's beautiful!" I said "I know." Then I crumpled it up and threw it away. When she asked why I did that my response was simple. "It's crap." And it was. Typical, generic, mundane, nothing worth bragging about. In my mind, the moment I threw out that poem and refused to even be graded on it, that is when I found the poet in myself. That was 1997. Now, in 2009, I can say that I have learned a few things about writing poetry. Nothing was taught to me though. I know some will say "What about forms?" They were shown to me, but not taught. If you read my poetry you will see that I rarely use forms. Anyway, with that all said, here is what I have learned...
1. A cliche subject can make a great poem, but only if you really feel what you are writing about. Don't write about hope if you're feeling hopeless. Don't write about love unless you feel it. For god's sake don't write about suicide if you're not even sad!
2. It's okay to write about multiple situations in one poem, even if they don't have anything to do with eachother.
3. Realize everyone will try to understand your poem based on an experience of their own. You should always encourage feedback from these people, you never know when something they say might awaken your muse, even if they think a happy birthday poem is about drugs.
4. This one is important, do not always write your poems on the computer. You'd be amazed how much of what you write looks alot better on screen than on paper. Any good poet should occasionally pick up a pen and paper and write in the good old-fashioned way.
5. Never write the same thing about the same girl twice (or boy, should you be of a different gender or orientation than I) I'm not saying don't write multiple love poems for that someone special, I'm saying don't write "you are my everything, I'd die without you" twice. The readers can tell and in their minds the poems are the same. That gets boring fast. Instead, think of why you love that person, if you really do love them, you should be able to think of more than one reason. Write different poems about all those different reasons. Same thing goes for hate.
6. Use metaphors, but don't hide everything.
7. Never use a person's name in a poem unless you only intend to show it to them. That's what dedication lines are for. Your poem will be more appreciated by the reader if they can relate it to themselves or someone they know. It's the difference between "Oh my god, that's beautiful, that's exactly how I feel!" and "who the hell is Bobby-Sue?"
8. You don't always have to start writing your poem at the beginning. Some of my best poems started with a line that wound up in the middle or at the end.
9. If you start a poem and just can't think of those last few lines, do not force it. Something inspired you to write about it, that something will come back to you.
Anyway, that's all I have for now.
Just some thoughts
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