Poetry has been around for nearly five millennia, yet never has it been more puzzling. The many reasons include technology, social media, and the blinding pace of contemporary life, leaving many students and readers in the dark. Just in time, this book comes to the rescue not just with a response to the problem but with a solution.

The author, himself a widely published writer and poet, takes the mystery and madness out of verse with specific strategies designed to take the poetic wilderness and tame it—not by dumbing down the poems but by raising the ability of readers to absorb this gem of literary form.

Readers of all abilities and sensibilities will profit from the book’s ability to drill down to the bedrock of meaning. With innovative hints, tips, guidelines, and directives, the author mines his decades of experience writing, publishing, and teaching poetry to benefit anyone wishing to cultivate their enjoyment of literature’s highest form of expression.