The following comments are relative to any essay about poetry.
To summarize is not the same as to respond. A summary is a neutral restatement of the primary points of a text; a response is an evaluation of a text. You may or may not want to summarize the poem, but you must respond to the poem--that is, state whether you like or dislike the poem and provide reasons (grounds). Furthermore, you must provide backing--specific phrases, clauses or lines that you quote and explicate. When quoting use a slash to differentiate lines, and ensure there is a space before and after the slash. Use two slashes to differentiate stanzas, and ensure there is a space before and after the slashes.
You must combine reader-response criticism with either New Criticism or deconstruction. Consider the elements I wanted you to incorporate into your poem: figurative language, sonic texture, imagery, meter, and form. A New Critic will regard those elements as necessary constituents of the poem. They are necessary because they contribute to the definitive meaning of the poem. Remove one of the elements, and you will create another unique poem. A nonliterary example is the way a New Critic views a tree. He/she analyzes the trunk, bark, branches, leaves, crown and height individually; then, he/she will analyze the tree as a whole, focusing on the way its trunk, bark, branches, leaves, crown and height create the tree's distinctiveness. A deconstructionist, after careful analysis of the same elements and after consideration of each element's multiple meanings, agrees that the tree is a tree, but he/she also views the tree as his/her new book, bookcase, library, et cetera. With respect to your poem, a deconstructionist will regard each element as having and creating multiple meanings.
Regardless of which approach you use, you must consider the structure of the poem, the way(s) it reflects or enhances the poem's central idea (New Criticism), the way(s) it creates ambiguity or multiple meanings (deconstruction), or the way(s) it detracts from the poem's content (deconstruction). If you approach the work deconstructively, suggest another form. For example, if the poem is about a former relationship between two people, and the poet relates the relationship in tercets, suggest the poet consider couplets. Couplets connote unity (two lines with one sonically similar end rhyme), and with respect to the former relationship, the couplets will create irony.
State the title of the poem and the poet's name in the first paragraph. If the poem does not have a title, the first line acts as one.
The poet is not necessarily the speaker, the one conversing, so use speaker rather than poet.
Speak about the poem in the present tense. The poem exists now.
