Find a Poet Not a poser, not a "it's just a hobby" poet. Find one who mumbles lines as they scramble for a pen at breakfast; who shakes their head randomly when their thoughts aren't rhyming properly;  who has notebooks stashed around the house that you must never touch.
2. Listen Savor the spoken words, for those are harder to express. Keep in mind that they can't be edited and re-written, and be forgiving when a mistake is made.
3. Read The body speaks as loudly as words on a page do. When their eyes are closed or focused on the ceiling and the fingers are tapping out syllables, recognize the unique process. Respect the need for quiet, because if you look closely, you can read the poem on their face before they write it on the page.
4. Write Write your story together. Grab hold of the pen and hang on as you move across the page of life. Sometimes you will dance across, others you will be dragged. You may have to cross out a word, or a line, or a page, but don't give up. Discouragement is a poet's biggest enemy, inarticulateness their biggest fear. So end each day with a semi-colon, because the story will never end the way you think it will, and there must be room for more. There is always room for more, more words, more laughter, more tears, more love,
When you love a poet.

The dark crescents
under your eyes
become
indicators of
stress and wear.
Wrinkles line
your forehead
where smooth skin
once presided.
Cracks
in your heart
become visible
to those around you --
it's the absence
of light
in your eyes,
it's the lack
of enthusiasm
in your laugh.
At the end of
the day,
you find yourself
staring into the mirror...
Wondering when life
passed you by.

You are the reason I am so strong,
Why I can withstand any storm.
You taught me at a young age how to love life and adore it all,
The ups, the downs, the heartaches, even the rock bottom falls.

I remember being young and with you on the bridge of San Francisco.
It was freezing, foggy, felt like it was below zero.
But when you held me up to see the world At that moment I knew
You were going to be the only man who could ever pick me up at the moments I needed it most.
My greatest hero, would be you.

You are everything I could have asked for in a dad and more.
God knew you would be the only one who could handle me.
But I'm not sure if you even knew what you were in for.

I look up to you and I'll follow you until the end,
Like the moon guides the tides, As long as you're in my life I know I'll always have a bestfriend.

You have molded my mind and soul
And for that I will be forever grateful.
You are more than a father to me,
*You are everything I've ever wanted to be.

She sat there in silence as tears streamed down her flustered cheeks.
The sound of her sniffing trying to hold them back, echoed throughout the room.
She was frozen.
She couldn't move, she could barely even breathe.
The light wasn't allowed in this room,
like love wasn't allowed in her heart.
It was all dim and dark.
Much like the tired eyes she had been wearing,
As a result of this nightly routine.
The air was thick and felt as though she was trying to breathe with her face pressed into a pillow.
Everything in her screaming for help but she sat there quietly, alone, engulfed in darkness.

**Slow self-suffocation at its finest.

Your darkest secrets can be shared
And I'll do nothing but shed the kindest light amongst them and cleanse you of any burdens that were abandoned on your shoulders.
I'll do my best to rid you of any marks they left on that sweet, genuine, beautiful soul of yours.
I'll never leave you to fight your demons alone.
On your own,
I promise, for the rest of our lifetime, is something you'll never have to feel.
All in the hopes to one day call you
**Mine.