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ed Kooser is a two-term US Poet Laureate, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry -- and someone who takes a great interest in helping others write poetry. He spoke with Bottom Line/Retirement from his home in Garland, Nebraska...

Writing poetry is an exhilarating way of expressing yourself. Unfortunately, many people are intimidated by the prospect of writing a poem. There’s no need to be.

Easy ways to begin a process that can bring joy to you as well as to your readers...

Read poetry. You can learn nearly everything there is to know about poetry by reading poetry.

My advice: Pick up an anthology, preferably one that contains a wide range of works by poets since about 1900. (Earlier poetry used vocabulary and styles that are no longer common.)

An anthology that I recommend: Western Wind by David Mason and John F. Nims (McGraw-Hill). It is a fine introduction to reading and writing poems.

Take a course. It could be in poetry or in a more general literature course that includes poetry. Courses of this type are offered by most local colleges and universities in their adult education programs.

Join a writers’ group. Or form one with others who want to write poetry. These are typically local groups of aspiring writers who discuss each other’s works and meet with established authors whom they ask to offer advice.

To find a writers’ group, inquire at local bookstores and ask literature teachers at adult education centers. Readers’ groups are another source of information because members are often interested in writing. To find readers’ groups, ask at bookstores, and/or go to Reader’s Circle Web site at www.readerscircle.org.

Read a book on writing poetry. In addition to my own book (see footnote below), I can recommend Michelle Boisseau’s Writing Poems (Longman).

SITTING DOWN TO WRITE

Here are some techniques that many professional poets use...

Keep a journal. As you scribble into your notebook, memories and associations are likely to bubble up from the back of your mind.

As for myself, I have a notebook where I write down what goes on each day. Then every so often when I read the entries, I’m not only reminded of interesting experiences but also of interesting words or turns of phrase that I might want to use in a poem.

Have a reader in mind. I enjoy writing for a broad, general audience, not an exclusive audience of editors and academics. As a result, I imagine a reader somewhat like my mother, who had a couple of years of college and who had many interests, including reading.

But having a particular reader in mind isn’t necessarily helpful for every poet. Don’t use the technique if it doesn’t work for you.

Write on a regular basis. Many people don’t realize what they want to write about until they actually sit down and write.

Keep in mind that for most poets -- including established professionals -- it’s difficult to sit down with the intention of writing a poem about, say, the war in Iraq or any other particular subject. Why this happens isn’t clear. On the other hand, if you’re thinking about the war and begin writing a poem about, say, the reflection of a tree in a pond, your feelings about the war may come through indirectly. The shimmering reflection may be a symbol of events that quickly change -- like the course of the war.

So the important thing is just to write! In that way, you’ll see where your thoughts lead.

Don’t worry too much about the “rules” of writing poetry. You will learn many of them simply by reading. Then by writing, you will learn when to break the rules. In fact, part of the joy of writing comes from the freedom to choose your own way of expressing yourself.

The rhythm (meter) of a verse, for instance, can be an effective way to dramatize the subject you’re writing about.

As Richard Wilbur wrote in his poem, Juggler...

A ball will bounce; but less and less.

The rhythm perfectly mimics the motion of the bouncing ball.

Rhyming can enhance the pleasure of a poem, but it doesn’t have to be obvious. In fact, subtle internal rhyming can emphasize thoughts in a way that readers might not immediately realize.

As Edward Weismiller wrote in Sea Horse...

In a white fire of foam
racing, eyes mad with what might 
be delight.

The word “delight” stands out because it rhymes with both “white” and “might” -- but not in an obvious way.

Show your poems to others. Ask for feedback from friends who genuinely like poetry and who will give you honest and thoughtful opinions, as opposed to someone who reads your poem and makes an inane comment like “Yeah, that’s really different.”

The people you show your poems to don’t have to be sophisticated readers. After all, it doesn’t take a great knowledge of literature to say, “I don’t get what you’re talking about.”

Once you’re satisfied with a poem, don’t hesitate to show it to as many people as you think will be interested in it -- friends, relatives or fellow members of writers’ groups, for example. Today, there are many Internet blogs where you can post your poems and read poetry written by others. To find them, enter “poetry blogs” into Google or another search engine.

Having others read your poetry is one of the real pleasures of writing.