A wise grandfather, skilled designer, <br />approached with serious concern - <br />to ask 'What is a poem? '... <br />no ready answer - but the question <br />spoken so touchingly <br />as if indeed it mattered... <br /> <br />A poem? <br /> <br />Some sounds <br />from heart to heart <br />to melt the heart? <br /> <br />To join our inmost thoughts? <br /> <br />To keep in mind, recall <br />what human kind most values, <br />needs to value? <br /> <br />To share a laugh <br />at this extraordinary human comedy <br />and blow away its illusions? <br /> <br />To reassert our human greatness <br />and the humanity of humanity? <br /> <br />To preserve the finest sounds <br />of our beloved language <br />which hold <br />all that we love? <br /> <br />To tell a new, entrancing story <br />which we'll never forget? <br /> <br />Blowing a soap-bubble world <br />with all the colours of the rainbow <br />sliding around on its roundness <br />while we clap our hands <br />and pop it goes.. <br /> <br />Just - serious fun? <br /> <br />In Pooh-Bear language, <br />simply <br />People Reading It And Nodding? <br /> <br />Really, <br />a poem is like <br />an angel, a dragon, a favourite food, or a Special Friend - <br />you'll know it when it comes along... <br /> <br />My wise friend <br />said thank you, <br />he'd always wondered.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/0428-what-is-a-poem/
