What is?

What is Poetry?

At first, I was somewhat skeptical when I read this question.

My initial impression was that there, somewhere, existed a hidden meaning within which only an equally witty response could answer. And so, I considered an abstract truth in response,

"Poetry cannot be simply defined or categorized". Period. The End. Submit.

(Because really...what am I supposed to say?) Is that not just?

Poetry...

Poetry is...Poetry is to me...

What is poetry, to me? Poetry is creation.

It's imagination. It's observation. It's an expression of oneself.

Like a mathematician solves equations, poetry unveils a sort of truth within it's mechanics. There is meaning. Mind you, there is various interpretations to any one meaning, but there is great meaning.

Poetry is complex to the untrained eye...but it exists as a vehicle for communication, a universal language. And as most languages are complex at first, and so very often misunderstood, once the care and the time has been taken, and once the effort has been met to learn and to hone the desired language; once it is ready to be used freely (and at times, misued) only then does it reveal itself as the majestic and sacred tool it is, only then has truth, intellegence, and passion ever sounded so lovely...

Poetry is the music of language. It is a creation born and crafted desirably, in order to fulfill its message, its story, its purpose. Language can often be manipulated; molded and shaped to produce a desired meaning.

Poetry is a creation. Like a muscian uses his voice, like a doctor uses his hands, poetry is a product of ideas, a gift that essentially exists in us all, a thing that we can utilize as a creative means for communication.

An expression of thought, poetry is formed from fragments of questions and answers and bounded by feelings and emotions. It is a vehicle and a voice for realization and creation to emerge. It's a platform for expression, it's a personal signature.

Poetry educates. It attempts to explain to the reader, the listener, as it extends from the writer, the creator...a message. A message of knowledge, insight, and information. Poetry is an alternative to the norm. It "walks its own path". It educates and stimulates personal growth. It helps to paint a visual, while at the same time, playing a beat...

In the end, I feel a problem exists within this question...how do you describe something so extensive, so intricate, without taking its ingrediants away in doing so?

"Once you attempt to define passion, you lose it" ...

And, as a friend once said so well...

Poetry? "Beauty shouldn't be autopsied".