What's Allowed in Writing Poetry

::: Format :::

Anything you put your mind to
---Follow a set form. Research the technicalities of what makes each type of poem separate from the rest. (  shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html  ) Learn what it takes to construct poetry within a preset order of guidelines and rules. Attempt clearing the hurdles of clarity, flow, content and atmosphere that arise when being given so little so work around without compromising the overall composition. Challenge yourself to master what could become your favorite new way to express yourself.
---Write something in free verse. Explore the limitless universe of putting any words in any order on as many lines as you like. Erase all your inhibitions and say exactly what you feel exactly how you feel it. Or don't... twist and mold and play with the words in your mind until the meaning and direction of the poem turn into a mystery yet to be solved. Just don't complain about an inability to say what isn't say-able when your poem's only restrictions are the ones only present in the mind of the person it's coming from. Challenge yourself to explain perfectly what you have no reason not to do so.

Anything you can imagine
---Invent a brand new form of poetry. Think outside the walls of preexisting ideas. Do something exciting and unique and never stop to apologize about it. Blend styles, lengthen or shorten specifications, change parts you don't like, and use yourself as your own judge of what does and doesn't work. Challenge yourself to create what nobody but you could have dreamt was even a possibility.

And if somebody disagrees
---Screw them. It's not up to one person to decide which way of writing poetry is the best way. Anybody can like a certain way of writing more than another, or be better practiced at writing a certain way of writing more than another, or enjoy reading a certain way of writing more than another... but that doesn't make their way "the best way". As far as the vast world of poetry is concerned, the more close-minded a person is to the versions of poetry they give the least time of day to... the less they'll know about poetry in general compared to those who accept the variations as a necessary part of what makes poetry poetry. Challenge yourself to believe in yourself no matter who tells you what they think they know about how poetry is supposed to be written.