On the Writing of Poems

Poems are curious things to me. They are one of the few works of art that I can reliably and continuously create. They are not things that need to be forced (and they shouldn't be labored) and so my writing process always begins entirely by chance - I will receive an idea from something that I saw or thought that day and write down my thoughts. When I have an idea of where I want to go, I begin to write out a rough draft and I try out different rhymes like some people try on clothes. I sometimes write down multiple possible rhymes and try out different lines, but if it sounds forced or inauthentic, I just dispense of the structure.
The most important (and enjoyable) stage of writing, however, is the rewrite. My preferred method for writing a poem is to write down my ideas, begin to shape them, and promptly forget about them. Then, in a month or so, I can happen upon the poem hidden away on a piece of loose-leaf paper or in a computer file. Much in the same way that the initial inspiration arrived, an editing inspiration usually appears, and I reorganize, edit, and remove whatever I find necessary. If a poem doesn't feel right, I can just leave it to be re-rediscovered someday. This helps keep ideas fresh and means that there's probably a fragment of an idea lying around somewhere when I can't think of any new ones.
My incessant rhyming is a result of my four or five years spent trying to compose songs. It has its time and place, but I try not to overuse it.