Talk to strangers about poetry

Almost nobody admits to writing poetry, because the people who know you would read it as autobiography. A stranger reads only the words — which is exactly the audience most writing wants, and the reason people share things here they have never shown a friend.

• The line that has lived in your head for years
• Whether you write, or only read
• Poets worth starting with if someone is new to it
• Rhyme and form against free verse
• Writing you have never shown anyone

• “A line of poetry that lives in your head?”Use this
• “Do you write, or only read?”Use this
• “A poet everyone should know?”Use this
• “What made you start writing?”Use this
• “A poem that got you through something?”Use this
• “Do you write for anyone, or just yourself?”Use this

• Ask for a line they love rather than a poet. A single line is easy to share in a chat and says a lot about the person who chose it.
• If they write, ask what they write about rather than whether they are published. Most poets write for themselves, and the subject is the interesting part.
• Ask when poetry found them. Many people discovered it through a school text, a song lyric or a hard stretch of life, and the answer often opens a real conversation.

Critiquing a poem someone shares unprompted can feel harsh, especially if it is personal. Avoid saying poetry is pretentious or dead; the person you are talking to clearly does not think so. And be gentle if someone shares writing about something painful.