HOW TO WRITE A GOOD POEM

First of all,
slash your fore-arm and let it
bleed all over the page
(poetry's rough)

Next or if you've done that
(so many poets have,)
let me say I've not the poetry thing
quite "down pat"

But I think
the key to writing a good poem
is to write ten that stink,
to make it a habit
to write
in
lines
thinking abouwt souwnd

Reading beautiful poems
like "naming of parts" or "one art"
or listening to musical bards
doesn't hurt either,
provided you get to writing
your own poem

Take ten days if you have them,
ten revisions,
analyze every syllable and if it works,
come back in a year
and see what else can be done

Know that you don't have it in you
to write a great poem,
and go to great lengths to hide this
from all who read your verse
(confuse them with innovation, obsessive technique, lies)
and one day you just may realize
you've written one or two...
maybe quite a few