Poetry can be highly personal and abstract, or it can be concrete and immediate. It's almost as if it's written in some kind of code, and unless you were born with the ability to decipher this code, you may feel like you can't access its meaning. This is where the poem's structure comes into play. Each poem has its own internal logic and meaning. Most of the time you have to read a poem several times to absorb it.
Poetry stems from an oral tradition.
Much of its power comes from the rhythm of the language, how the sounds are put together, and where there are pauses and full stops. Ask yourself why the poet chose to structure the poem this way. Now reread the poem yet again, this time paying attention to the language, the rhythm, and the images in the poem. Once you've done a careful and close reading of a poem, you are ready to start thinking about writing about it. Formulate a working thesis.