Tim, WOW! This is an amazing gift! Thank you so much! I would ask this--
Mr. Wilbur, I was recently caught up in a discussion about what makes a poem a poem. One person in the group believed that anything metrical/verse was a poem ( with a qualifier, that the intent to write a poem was there) Another person argued that it is a compression of language the craft of the line, etc. They gave an example of nonsense verse they had written, they maintained that although it was regular in meter, it could not be called a poem. Both cited the numerous examples of both techniques used to produce the plethora of bad poetry often seen on the internet and elsewhere.
Both sides shared the view that a poem and poetry are the same.
I thought both views are right in the sense that either way one can produce a poem, but I believe most poems are not poetry. As if a poem is the cause of the writer and poetry is the effect upon the individual reader. What is your definition of a poem and/or poetry?
Respectfully,
Donna
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