Show or tell: what is it when it's at home?

[brynmawr1]

I would like to know people's thoughts on this frequently brought up angle in many critiques.

I am frankly often confused by the difference.  That is, I have hard time sometimes seeing the dividing line.  It seems like every poem is a telling.  I do understand the importance of showing, since images are sort of the blood of poetry.  

Maybe I'm the only person who doesn't quite get it.  Analysis is not one of my strong points.

Anyway, enlighten me!

Hi TqB,

I often have this question as well so you are not alone.  On the prose side of things, I think it's called "dramatizing" which to me means creating a scene that conveys the emotion, back story, under story, etc without explicitly telling the reader all the gory details.  At least that is my understanding.  I think one of the criticisms of telling is that it lends itself too much in telling the reader how they should feel rather than letting the reader come to it on their own.  That's my understanding from some things that I have read and experienced in comments of my own writing.  My question is, "Is it always bad writing, and if not, when is it appropriate?"
Like you, I am interested in hearing a more sophisticated explanation.