How many people began to write poetry after a painful breakup?

We often begin writing poetry to express sadness.  Find a need to express our feelings during hard times through poetry.  And its good to express it.

Then as poets, we are on the lookout for things to capture with poetry. We are focused on seeing the beauty around us.  The great thing is you find what you are looking for.

This also transfers to editing poems.  We take a look at our sad poems We take control of the story. and As we work on the poem,  we might just find the beautiful side to the story. 

Kurt Vonnegut’s quote.

Writing is an act that you do not have to do well. You do not have to ever do anything with it and it is an worthwhile thing to do.  Doing something that uses your imagination keeps you growing as a person.

I also believe Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote on stock poetry is also pertinent here.

The difference between poetry and stock poetry is this, that in the latter the rhythm is given and the sense adapted to it; while in the former the sense dictates the rhythm. I might even say that the rhyme is there in the theme, thought and image themselves.

                                       Essays Poetry and Imagination [1872]

This quote says when it comes to a poem you should have something you are yearning to say and that you should write it first and see what rhythm the poem is born out of the words. 

But that it is also saying, keep listening to the rhythm of your thought and make it a clearer and stronger message to yourself and your audience by enhancing that rhythm.