anomalicious

So. Metre.
It has become a dirty word in some poetry circles.
It conjures images of withered, grey-haired men laboriously counting out beats and stresses whilst coughing up phlegm because of all the dust in their cramped and quasi-arcane libraries.
It really isn't all THAT bad, trust me.
So, without getting too 'old-man' technical - What is metre? what is it good for?
And, importantly, how does one use it?
Well, let's see if we can come up with some workable and easily understood answers by the end of this.
#1: What is metre?
Technical Language: The most well known metre, 'Accentual Syllabic Metre' is the rhythmic arrangement of syllables and patterns of stresses in a poetic line.
Translation: Metre is a poetic device that allows you to consciously orchestrate the flow of rhythm in a poem by paying attention to the natural rise and fall of the spoken word, and how to align those patterns of word-emphasis in an effective way.
#2: What is metre good for?
Basically, metre is

Chicago—Sleeping In
a tremulous yawn to rouse her trees,
the city awakens;
hush of night wanly surrenders
to serenades ... a lark's swelling chatter;
—weather predicting
legions of Early Risers
greet the morning sober with dreams of sleep;
—schedules keeping, (those poor souls)
school-children, ambling in their sweet daze,
hopeful of Nature's favor ask;
does it snow? does it rain?
the sounds of progress invade
my urban hamlet and hollow,
hasten a pulse, low and increasing
from the window
I consider your slumber, your bliss;
passing contented, the weightless moments
in this idle break of day
silent,
I draw the silken veil
against morning's widening embrace,
the lark still sings, I ask;
does it snow? does it rain?
.

I remember tenderly—that opening you
and I embrace; a casual
fondling of souls amid muted conversation (
saying something, without ordered variation—
a symphony by unison), witness
to a flowering closeness;
           calculated by scent alone
the intimation of that exquisite first stroke
—a rhythmic intersection of organs
nightly warming;