Poetry is important because it lets the people who think of life more symbolically and meaningfully the ability to express themselves. Poetry usually shows many ranges from humorousness to the serious struggles of human lives, depending on the author's feelings. I know I write poetry to express things that I could not express otherwise in a prose form, or maybe to remember how I felt about something. So, usually if you're reading other poetry, it's important that you try and feel what the author is trying to feel.
This where you find the meaning of the poetry. Some poetry is as plain as day, or some you have to really think about and try to relate to. This meaningfulness (it's a word!) can only be achieved when done so; therefore, beginning poets or people with no poetry experience at all usually have a hard time breaking in.