I was talking last night to my five-year-old daughter Sarah about the difference between poetry and prose. I asked her to define poetry for me. I thought she would say “words that rhyme” and was wondering if I would have the courage to explain that much of it doesn’t (and was realizing that I didn’t know how to define poetry myself). Instead, this is what she said:

“Poetry is words that don’t make a whole lot of sense.”

You know, I think she got the gist of it. (Granted, most of her poetry experience comes from Dr. Seuss.)

By the way, Google gave me these definitions of poetry:

– literature in metrical form
– language exhibiting conscious attention to patterns
– language used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities
– language characterized by romantic imagery

I’m going with Sarah’s definition.