What is a poem?

[rayheinrich]

On September 14th four years ago I had this idea to set a once-a-year reminder
in google calendar to post "What is a poem?" in the Pigpen poetry discussion.
It haunted me for the last few years, but then bingo! This year I actually got to do it.

I think of it as one of those Zen koan questions that when attempted might cause enlightenment.

Hmm, well, maybe next year.

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I’ve always been partial to Marianne Moore’s take on poems — “imaginary gardens with real toads in them”.

Yes, I like that Marianne Moore quote as well.
Here's a link to the whole poem for anyone interested:
https://poets.org/poem/poetry

To be honest, though, I’d have to be convinced of the value of classifying what is and isn’t a poem. Unless it’s a librarian asking 

That might be a good rule of thumb:
"Don't categorize until you've found a use for it."

I've also noticed that flowers are never that impressed when I know their names,
even the Latin names don't seem to have much effect.