According to what Rain has been teaching me this past week, I've been going about this poetry thing all wrong. She says poetry is about immersing yourself in the subject at hand, finding your feelings for it, your deepest, truest emotions. Then, as she told me, comes the hard part: putting those feelings to words. According to her, anypony can write a poem, even fillies and colts. But it takes a lifetime of dedication and a small measure of writing talent to truly become a poet. Unfortunately I don't have a lifetime. I have two days.
Addendum: While trying to grasp inspiration from Lord Sombra's book of poetry, Rain tore the book from my hooves and tucked it into her dress. She said I could have it back after the festival was over, but that right now, the last thing I needed was Lord Sombra. Apparently his rather dark subject matter and strange, almost fetishistic obsession with crystals aren't helpful in writing in verse about the sun.