How do you write poetry?

[Achebe]

i agree entirely with Dale. although, i think Dale is agreeing with El, not Leanne.

anyway, when i wrote poetry it was a quick 'get it down' then a day or two of editing and revision. it was like being on uppers. the mind becomes very focused. i think this is, in a broader sense, what one can interpret 'tranquillity' to mean. and i smoked a lot. i would change a word, have a cigarette. another word, then another cigarette. think about changing a word, have a cigarette. have a cigarette while thinking about changing a word. i could smoke like 20 cigarettes in an hour. and apart from the tranquillity of focus, it was a very internally frantic process.

the only poetry i've written that hasn't stank has been on the strength of cigarettes and foul weather, so I completely identify with this.

What a delightful set of responses!