What is a Poem

World Poetry Day

Although I have read a lot of poetry in the past and have many books of poetry, I rarely turn to it now. I don’t know why, too busy reading novels I suppose. Then I began to think - what is a poem. Sometimes I read a phrase or sentence in a book and I have to read it again . . . and again . . . as the words have been put together so perfectly and made me see something in a new way. Isn’t that poetry? 

One of the dictionary definitions of a poem  is : Anything supremely harmonious and satisfying. 

That took me to a book I got a while ago - This is a Poem that Heals Fish where Arthur searches for a poem to make his fish better. He asks all over the place ‘What is a poem?’ and gets lots of different answers. I like the answer Mahmoud, who comes from the desert, gives - when you hear the heartbeat of a stone. Or the bird’s answer - A poem is when words beat their wings. Or Grandma’s answer - A poem turns words around, upside down, and - suddenly - the world is new.

Interesting that the book was translated from the French, originally written by a poet Jeann-Pierre Siméon. And beautifully illustrated by Olivier Tallec. To me every page is a poem.