Each device or component in each single poem needs to develop continuously to better ensure the survival of your poem, just like the fur, teeth, and organs of an animal evolve over long periods of time to ensure the survival of an animal.
Imagine you are caring for a shelter of cats. Each individual cat is an individual poem. Each cat has its own personality traits, colour, build, breed.
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GENERAL MAINTINENCE
Try to understand the nature of the cats because it is your responsibility to breed them, nature them and ensure their safety. Some may need little care and will develop naturally in to strong, healthy poems...others require more attention. Don't assume because one is strong that the entire litter will be the same.
Educate yourself! You cannot successfully care for an animal if you do not know what it requires or are unfamiliar with the species. Know how to care for your poems. There is no excuse for ignorance. Every time you show one of your cats to someone they will judge your ability and nature by your cat's appearance, health and intelligence. When someone reads your poem they will recognise its weaknesses much quicker than you, they are not blinded by their feelings. Remember this.
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STRUCTURE / FORM
The bone structure of each cat is the structure and frame of a poem. The skeleton has multiple functions; without the skeleton the animal could not exist, it serves as a frame, structure and foundation for EVERYTHING.
An American bobtail cat has a different size and shape skeleton to a Siamese. While both breed's skeleton essentially serve the same purpose, and help identify both creatures as cats, the skeleton separates the breeds in terms of size and purpose. Each breed's skeletons have evolved to suit their lifestyle and surroundings, as each structure of a poem help identify form andmeaning. For example, a sonnet form is recognisable because of its structure and size and is used to suit the nature of the poem.
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RHYME
A lot of people ask whether rhyme is necessary, or enquire about its use. ..
Rhyme is a poetic device just like structure. Think of rhyme as a cat's claws. Rhyme may develop naturally and all the claws may look identical: the rhyme may be constant and unchanging. On the flip side, rhyme may hinder the poem, as a cat's claws can grow unnaturally, causing the animal discomfort and pain. Sometime it is necessary to clip the claws, to eradicate rhyme or to clip a single problematic claw, remove a single rhyming word or couplet.
*Do whatever is necessary to ensure the overall well being of the poem and ensure its health and survival:
Refusing to remove rhyme because you simply like it is like refusing to clip the claws for one of your cats because you think they look cute, when really they are growing abnormally and are causing your beloved pet pain and harm. If left unclipped the claw could become infected and such a small, but important, attribute could jeopardise the entire life of your cats...
Do you want your poem to die?
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VOCABULARY / WORD CHOICE / GRAMMAR
If the skeleton is the structure and rhymes are claws, each hair is a word. All of the hairs make up the fur. If your words belong to all different semantic fields, are unintentionally misspelled or out of place... your poor cat is going to look like it has been electrocuted and its fur is going to grow over its eyes, get knotted and cause it serious problems. At worst your cat won't even be identifiable as a cat! Groom your poems. Brush and trim the vocabulary.
Think consciously about the sentence structure, word choices and punctuation and...
*know the rules.
No none successfully breaks the rules for effect without being a master at following them first. Breaking the rules without fully understanding them is like giving your cat a haircut while drunk. You may think that kitty looks adorable, but once you are sober (once you learn the rules) you will look back and feel embarrassed, stupid and the people who see the cat will no doubt question your ability.
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I could go on forever, but I won't. Those were the basics. I hope this has helped some of you and answered a few questions. Cheers for reading and keep writing!
