What is Poetry, Anyhow?

Yes, I’ll give it a try –
convene a group,
each of us contributing
our poetic efforts.

We know from the beginning
what the general topic is:
poetry;
but what makes it that –
poetry, I mean?
No longer simply rhyming ends of lines,
maybe rhythm in the lines,
or cryptic words ‘understood’
only by published critics.

Just happened to ask
a ‘reading only’ friend –
and quick as a wink he responded,
“Poetry? Why it’s the shortest distance
between two hearts!”