Metapoem

Claimed the Mad Hatter
in his best natter,
"A poem, you see,
inevitably
must have meter and rhyme;
else it's only part-time,
being merely blank verse,
thus suffering the curse
of being virtually indistinguishable
from prose."

The March Hare replied,
to bolster his side,
"Professor, your point
is way out of joint
with poetry books.
Now surely that brooks
my proposal that poetry,
in complete probity,
is more in the thought
than in how it ought
to be formatted."

Alice broke in to aver,
"Really, guys, I swear,
I can recognize a poem:
When I see 'em, I know 'em.
But that's not what matters.
Art's more than spatters
of ink on the page.
The question to gauge
is knowing a good one.
When the poet is done,
he thinks it terrific.
We might think "horrific".
How then can one know?
Is that why it's so,
that poets aren't read
till after they're dead?" 

Copyright ©2018, Paul H. Harder II

This poem is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 License.