If your poem’s rhythm is bad, your poem will be bad.

That’s right, I said it. Poetry without rhythm (or poor examples of it) is like a brain-bound rusty screwdriver: stimulating but never a good idea. After you’ve digested all of that “show don’t tell” imagery bullshit, you need to pay attention to your rhythms.

Don’t just read your poem, say it out loud. A poem that sounds great spoken will look great written. If you aren’t confident in your abilities, work on it. Limiting yourself to syllabic structure is an excellent way to learn. Jot a few lines down, figure out some sort of syllabic structure (seven syllables / five syllables / seven syllables / five syllables / etc. etc.) and stay within that structure. This helps you learn how different words flow, and how to make the words work for you. Free-verse is an exciting concept but sitting down and proceeding to pour your thoughts out onto paper willy-nilly will make your poem suck. Poetry is no excuse to ramble. Punctuation, and to a lesser extent your line breaks, are important vehicles of rhythmic greatness, so pay attention to them.

Remember – as a poet – your words and their rhythms are all you have.