Writing in the constraints of poetic forms can be liberating, and the work generated in this way can be especially fresh. We explore various poetic forms: sestina, sonnet, villanelle, and rondeau. Students are not limited to writing in these forms, however. Poetic form is used as a point of departure for creating, we hope, new and surprising poetry. Each week, students are assigned to read poems composed in the form being studied the following week.