at times
we write out verses in a rush
what we are feeling
believing this is poetry
we may do well to keep in our mind
how the grandfather of romantic poetry
defined his writing at the time
powerful feelings
recollected in tranquility
which means,
in short
that just to let it all hang out
is not poetic
only when given shape
by rhyme rhythm or meter
we recognize that personal experience
can be an image of much more
an effort of how we admire
the wish to articulate human desire
The "grandfather" I refer to is William Wordsworth. in his "Preface" to the LYRICAL BALLADS, the programmatic anthology for then new Romantic poetry.