How do you write poetry?

[Erthona]

I agree with Leanne (something that rarely happens), and will take it a step further. Poetry is simply a manifestation of art. Having been a professional musician and song writer (not professional), a visual artist of sorts (made some money at it), writer of a musical and various other forms of art, I will say poetry is by far the most difficult and the most challenging. The skill set is equal to any of the other forms, but putting that skill set to use seems to me far more difficult with poetry. This is not to denigrate any of the other forms and I am not claiming poetry is in any way superior. Each form is better at manifesting different aspects  of Being. However, the point, long winded as it is, is that poetry, like all the rest is simply a manifestation of art, and so the correct question should be, what is art, not what is poetry...unless one wishes to get into the nit-picky world of academia. From there we find that poetry is an art form using the various troupes of poetry, especially metaphor and rhythm, which to a greater or lesser degree distinguishes it from prose.
Academia aside, if one has read enough poetry and has any kind of intellect, one will begin to understand what poetry is at a visceral level and begin to distinguish between good and bad poetry. This happens only with experience not a definition. As with any of the arts, to one who has not immersed oneself to at least some degree a definition of poetry will make no sense and to one who has, one is not required.
Of course every poet wishes to have his own definition of poetry; here is mine.

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Velvet Elvis

…and yes, there are many,
when it comes to poetry,
who can think only of that
abbreviated writing as such,  
which conforms to a certain metered line,
a certain form it must endure,
and, of course, it ab-so-lut-ly has to rhyme.
But then,
there are those,
also,
and this,
not to be unkind,
who think that velvet Elvis
is the highest form of art.
After all, is it not paint,
and is there not a canvas?
Granted, it is inky black,
not blandly white,
but who are you to say,
that they are wrong,
and you are right?
Isn’t this idea of yours just conceit?
Is beauty not,
in the apprehension of that form,
that pleases he who gazes?
Why should velvet Elvis not be the norm?
I bet more have been painted (and sold),
Than any by that guy, Go-gan, or was it,
Bland-go?
Well, who they are doesn’t matter,
if it were important,
to me,
I’m sure that I would know!  
So, with that said,
I have this poem I wrote,
it really is a hum-dinger,
it came to me the other day
while I was watching Oprah,
or was it Jerry Springer?
What?
Oh no,
I’ve never written one before,
but anyone one can do it,
it just has to rhyme.
I mean, its nothing that hard,
or that requires practice,
it’s nothing so difficult as say,
painting a velvet Elvis.

©1994