What is a poem?  Don’t say you don’t know

It’s capturing words and then making them grow.
     It’s chasing a rhyme over hill, over dale
     And it’s writing on subjects from the wind to a snail.

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What is a poem?  It’s - - - well, how shall I say?
It’s working on words and making them play.
     It’s trapping some similes, netting those nouns;
     Then sprinkling some colours – reds, blues and browns.

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It's taking the mind to a magical place - 

Perhaps with fast rhythm or perhaps with some grace.

     It's delighting the reader with soul-touching words​

      Or perhaps your poem's funny with words quite absurd.

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It isn't just language with words on the page:

Poems stir emotions with beauty or rage -

      Or they just tell a story to light up one's mind,

      *But remember your readers: use words well-defined.      

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The content for poems needs mixing with care
For a poem is something with others you’ll share.
     It’s whipping up rhythm – it’s having some fun;
     Then reciting your poem when all’s said and done.

Copyright on all my poems

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*  All too often people think that poems should require depth of thinking in order to understand what is being said.  Why?  Is it because examiners like to ask: 'What does the writer of this poem mean when he says . . . . . ?'  If he hasn't made his/her meaning clear,

then, in my humble opinion, they've failed to do the job.  Perhaps you should let the examiners know this fact.  Josie ​​​​​

 

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