Sonnet, iambic pentameter, the villanelle. . . .and free form. How can a non-poet form reasonable and enjoyable poetry? This book is the answer especially if you appreciate poetry and want to learn some forms to test your ideas. This is the book. It's broken down into 3 sections. The first is a non-intimidating idea section which allows the reader to dip into his/her unconscious and come up with tons of ideas for poems and prose. You don't start off with a poem until the next two chapters where you take ideas from the idea file and utilize them. I mean, who knew how important a very effective title was to poetry, poets perhaps? The last chapter discusses the particular forms and how you can revise, yes you can revise, your poems to work into a form. This book's format was incredibly enjoyable. After reading it once, I had several poems that I was happy with. When I read it again, yes, this is definately a book to read more than once, I will get more ambitious and focus on forms. This first time I just had fun. I can see why it is recommended by teachers for students. Or, like me, you can teach yourself.
