I'm afraid Martin's right, it's very hard to make money out of poetry unless you're famous or pumping book after book after book...but for us "average Joe's" there's not much money in it.
~Davidf

I've never made any money from my writing... well, not in any significant amounts, anyhow.   

But boy oh boy, I do love seeing my words in print.

These days I write for enjoyment and inspiration in equal measure.  I lead a creative writing club for students at my school, and am motivated to write because I enjoy keeping myself sharp.  I also prefer to lead by example, and the students respond to the fact that I am "out there" and authentic.   

I write for the fun of it, for the enjoyment I get from it.

It's hard work at times (especially to write poetry that can pass muster in today's contemporary workshop environments) but I wouldn't do it if I wasn't enjoying it.

I may be 40(ish)  *grin* and have been writing for 20+ years, but I still have much to learn.  I enjoyed learning while I was at school and I enjoy learning now - but when it stops being fun.....

Maybe, a few hundred years from now, archeologists will stumble upon a dusty tome of 21st century poetry with my name in it (but I'm not holding my breath -  *another grin*) - having something published and earning a few dollars from it would be nice, the icing on the cake, if you like, but it's not an all-consuming priority for me.

My main priorities right now are:

my health
my kids
my heart (and she does wonders for that...

I guess writing would be next.

Take care.

alien

It's both for me. it's the way I make my living - it's a place I retreat to, it's a place where I can revel in the fact that I am writing for me and me and alone. BUT it's also a way in which I make money! And that introduces an element of drudgery. I like to enter contests/submit work for appraisal, because I feel it's a way in which I acknowledge my own writing as opposed to the writing I do for other people. Sending it out into the big bad world is also away of letting it go, and allowing myself to say this is a piece of work that is finsished, and needs to see whether it can stand on its own two feet. Maybe it won't be strong enough to do that - maybe it will. Is that sending part of the "job" of being a writer? I think it is - and I think it's a way of saying to my writing that I take it seriously. 

This is an interesting question. I'd like to see how others respond.

Maire