Poetic Liscence

they all talk about poetry a lot... everybody seems to be writing some poetry.. but what exactly is poetry? is it just a random expression of thoughts rising in a person's mind in a few incomplete sentences which may or maynot rhyme and with unusual punctuations thrown arbitrarily? or is it something more serious, more complex, that requires a concentrated effort towards forming an entire new set of rules in a standard language.. an expression which is at the same time stylistic and profound.. just thoughts without styel doesnt make poetry.. they are just thoughts... i think... but i am not an expert... jus thinking aloud...

poetry should be something like ogden nash:

a little bit of talcum
is always walcum...

he had written for babies...

or

The cow is of the bovine ilk;
One end is moo, the other...

about cows

or

The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks
Which practically conceal its sex.
I think it clever of the turtle
In such a fix to be so fertile.

about the turtle

(note the play of language and the brevity of expression)

or like tagore.. but i cannot quote him here coz he wrote in bangla.....

or Dylan probably (both Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas)

"The hunchback in the park
A solitary mister
Propped between trees and water
From the opening of the garden lock
That lets the trees and water enter
Until the Sunday sombre bell at dark."

-Dylan Thomas

Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten

-Bob Dylan

well i dont know... but these are poets whose poetry can never die....

so next time i think of writing poetry... i would think about learning to write poetry first