I usually write fiction novels. But I like to write poetry too. I’m sure nobody can miss the word “poet” in my logo. The image you see above is Step Into Creativity, my debut poetry book. Writing poems surrounding the theme of creativity was such a joy for me. It was also the first-ever book that I self-published on Amazon KDP, and the first book of mine to have been enrolled in KDP Select.

So yes, I adore poetry. How can one not notice the beauty of such fleeting messages so elegantly and musically crafted with rhymes, rhythm, similes, and metaphors? Honestly, I sometimes feel that poetry is so underappreciated these days. Especially traditional poetry, with metered verses and rhyming schemes. Now, I do enjoy writing free verse, and Step Into Creativity has a lot of poems in free verse. But I would really love to see a comeback of those old rhymes and meters. There is so much to explore with rhyming schemes, and think about the wonderful writing exercises you would be giving your brain! So, to all the poets reading this post, I strongly recommend The Book of Forms by Lewis Putnam Turco. It’s a wonderful poetry handbook that teaches you all about the different styles and forms. It includes a glossary of poetic terms, who knows how many of all those different lyric poetry rhyming schemes (like the kinds of sonnets, ghazals, styles with Welsh and Irish names, and much more), and sections on dramatic and narrative poetry.

The Book of Forms is a college textbook that never left my bookshelf, and never will. When I declared my English BA with an emphasis in creative writing, I took a few poetry classes taught by Tami K. Haaland, who has her own published poetry books, which I really love. Check out this link to her Amazon author page:

Amazon.com: Tami Haaland: books, biography, latest update

I even dedicated Step Into Creativity to Tami. What I really loved about Tami’s classes was that she taught us the old forms. I think I remember that she really favored sonnets and ghazals (look them up!). Even after college, I still take chances to meet up with her again, like at the end of April 2025, when the Billings Public Library was hosting a poetry reading from Tami’s latest book, If I Had Said Beauty. April was National Poetry Month, too, so what better way to celebrate National Poetry Month, eh?

Needless to say, I plan to write more poetry in the future!