reading poetry

I don't really understand or appreciate poetry. I have no sense of it. Some people can read poetry and say whether it's good or not. I don't know the difference. Generally, when I first read a poem I have little to no idea what it's even about, and sometimes even on further reading that's the case. But I've found a way in to poetry - a way of appreciating it - and that is through 'close reading' - reading through it a line at a time and writing and thinking about it...thinking about what the writer is expressing. 

Writing is an important part of that process. 

What I've learnt is that, whatever meaning you can read into the poem, is valid. I don't really know why, but I know it's true. I didn't used to think I could understand poetry at all. I remember very clearly something that happened when I was first learning about poetry in high school. I found it quite interesting learning about the different techniques. We were studying one particular poem and I was really getting a sense of what it was about and enjoying the process. So, we were having a discussion and I shared my thoughts. I identified a particular technique that I thought the poet was using. But the teacher said I was wrong. The poet wasn't using that technique. 

I know now that I wasn't wrong. I would still say the same thing today about that poem that I said back then. Maybe I worded it wrong, but I was really onto something. I was understanding the poem. I think what probably happened was that the teacher had in mind particular techniques that they wanted us to identify and I said the wrong technique. 

But that's the thing about poetry and other literature...the power of the text is greater than the combination of all the techniques.