First Poem

One cannot write a poem about love without being in love,
One cannot write a poem about death without experiencing death,
One cannot write a poem about kindness without genuinely being kind,
One cannot write a poem about anger without really being angry,
One cannot write a poem about lust without knowing lust from love,
One cannot write a poem about friendship without being a friend themselves,
One cannot write a poem about sadness without being melancholic,
One cannot write a poem about life without living it.

It's true but I don't like the frequentness of you cannot.

I like this, but I also agree with the critique above about the cannot thing. But then I think, thinking about the title, that maybe it was deliberate on your part b/c it's suppose to be someone's first poem. Am I correct in thinking that? I like that you're making me think that way though, even if it wasn't your intent.

Keep it up.

I do have to agree with what the others said. The constant of "one cannot" was a bit 'unsatisfying' to me. Of course, if it is a first poem then it wouldn't be expected to see better. In my opinion, the message of the poem was good, as well as the word choice but, in my opinion, it could use some editting. Maybe change a few words around, make the flow a bit smoother. Not that it was bad in the first place. There's just a couple words that kind of stick out. Other than that I liked it.

i liked the end
not to make that mean
but i did like the end
well i liked the last phrase
there
thats better
much better

I'd actually have to disagree with most of what you said. Although I appreciate that you admire those who experience something before they claim to understand it, it's not always the case. What do we have imaginations for, for example? I can write the greatest love story and yet I have never really fallen in love myself. I suppose it's not the same for everyone. However, for me...I can completely transform my mind and state of being into a different territory and think and feel as though I am in that position. I can still write a poem about being sad even though I may not be because I imagine...that's the key word I suppose: Imagination. I can also write a happy poem and not really be happy. Perhaps because I dream of being happy and hope for happiness and therefore I have an idea of what happiness means to me...this leads me to create a poem of what I hope I can achieve without really having it. Know what I mean? Sorry for a long message, just thought I would share my opinion on the subject. I like that it got me thinking, I haven't written anyone such a long reply on here yet! I don't know if I like the repetition so much with "cannot" either but you are basically trying to get your point across. Perhaps you can go through each line and think of a metaphor that would fit each situation and then turn that into another poem that is saying the same thing but not really saying it! Just a suggestion!

As many commenters above have said, the repetition doesn't work very well with the poem. I like the meaning you're trying to get across- but I also agree with singing_hope. What's our imagination for? I think the true essence of being a writer/poet is not only writing from experience or from within themselves (their personality/character), but writing what they hope or imagine. As in, writing about what specific things mean to them.
It's pretty good for your first poem though. I've written much worse for my fifteenth poem!
I suggest going over the poem a bit, try reading it aloud. The 'cannot' kinda clatters up the rhythm. Also, in the same line, you use many words twice.
Good luck =]