A good friend of mine gave this book to me recently and I love it. It's written by a teacher of poetry and in a way I do not really know how to describe. She gives you lessons to do throughout the book that will improve your poetry and inspire you to write or give you ways to seek your own inspiration, but she also tells you stories from her own experiences that lead up to each lesson. Her stories show how the lesson at the end of the story has helped her or her class to write. I found this method of writing very inspirational and fresh. Even though the book is over 10 years old, it still reads new. I would recommend this book to any writer, even if you are not a poet. If you are a creative person in general, I feel you will gain something from this book that is useful to your art. If you are a poet, it will really open your eyes to new ways to come up with new ideas or finish old ones.