It can be tempting to think of rhythm, meter, or form as a container, something outside and separate from a poem. But the best poems sing with rhythms that move them as innately and mysteriously as waves work the water. Whether or not you’ve written in meter before, these powerful rhythms are there in your poems already.

This class is a four–week, more in-depth version of Annie’s popular poetic structure workshop Working the Beat. Devoting one week to each of four rhythmic or structural principles chosen by consensus of the group, we will trace the structures that already move through your lines, whether in free verse or form, and unpack the dynamics of the energies they carry. As you work the beat more, you will learn the secrets of the deep patterns driving your poems and how to welcome in their distinctive gifts. You will discover voices you never knew you had—and a sure and instinctive path to fresh and exciting revisions.